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TORfCA
FfCTORIAL
_p7/e ALAMO,
SAN ANTONI
MISSIONS
TEXAS
A Guide to the Lone Star State
TEXAS
A GUIDE TO THE LONE STAR STATE
Compiled by Workers of the Writers Program
of the Work Projects Administration
in the State of Texas
AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES
I L L U S T RAT E D
Sponsored by the Texas State Highway Commission
HASTINGS HOUSE -Publishers -NEW YORK
M CM X L
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1940
BUREAU OF RESEARCH in the SOCIAL SCIENCES
of The UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS,
WARNER E. GETTYS, PH.D., Director,
State-wide Sponsor of the Texas Writers Project
FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
JOHN M. CARMODY, Administrator
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
F. C. HARRINGTON, Commissioner
FLORENCE KERR, Assistant Commissioner
H. P. DROUGHT, Texas State Administrator
TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION
BRADY GENTRY, Chairman; ROBERT LEE BOBBITT, HARRY HINES
COPYRIGHT, I94O, BY TEXAS STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or
parts thereof in any form.
JULIAN MONTGOMERY
HA* Hmir TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
ROBERT LEE BOBBITT RBFCH TO Fitc No
We find much pleasure in commending this book to the
use of the public. It represents and explains some of the
facilities and resources to be found in Texas. Our State,
once a Republic, and the largest of the American Union,
combines the glories of the Old South and the energetic
qualities of the New West.
The advantages of Texas include the balmy breezes of
the Gulf of Mexico and the invigorating climate of the
Rocky Mountains. Historic shrines established by the
Franciscans more than two hundred years ago have been
preserved and restored to their ancient beauty. The
facilities of later days have been and are being extended
and enlarged as the result of the marvelous natural re
sources which exist in every part of the State. The 254
counties and hundreds of growing cities are connected by
modern highways and roadside parks, which lend convenience
and comfort to the motorist interested in the riches of
history and the beauties of nature.
Texas is a friendly State and genuinely welcomes the
traveler from far or near. Within her borders he will
still find the freshness and ruggedness of "A Home on the
Range" and all the comforts and conveniences of the most
modern American cities. He will observe that Texans are
happy to join with their neighbors of all other States in
every thought and activity which will quicken the march
toward contentment and prosperity for all the members of a
truly free and enlightened Nation.
We greet the visitors as they bring suggestions and
views which, combined with our own, result in mutual help
fulness and pleasure. The men and women of the Lone Star
State, through their Highway Commission and Department,
extend to all good people the hand of friendship.
STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER
^^^
Preface
Much of the labor that has gone into the making of this book is not
immediately apparent. The reader, by adding the tour and side trip dis
tances, can discover that more than fifteen thousand miles of Federal,
State and county highways were traversed and carefully described by
workers, and from a mere skimming of its pages will observe that all
the larger cities and hundreds of lesser towns and villages have been
the scene of their efforts. The succinct form of the completed volume
gives little indication, however, of the vast quantity of field copy more
than twelve million words from which selection and condensation had
to be made, or the research embraced in the consultation of hundreds
of books and periodical files and the interviewing of authorities upon
many subjects in all parts of the State.
The most authoritative sources available have been used as a basis
for the treatment of all controversial subjects of which Texas, espe
cially as to its early history, has its full share and every effort has been
made to arrive at the truth, or, where a reasonable doubt seems to exist,
to present the case fairly and without bias.
Population figures, except for communities which were not listed
in that count, are from the most recent official tabulation U. S. Census
of 1930. Some Texas cities have grown mightily since that time, and
it will be safe to assume that almost every city has gained substantially.
Estimates of the 1940 population of fifteen of them appear in Part II.
(Preliminary reports, giving the approximate figures of the 1940 Census
for a few cities and towns, were made public after the body of the book
was in type, too late for such revision as would be necessary to include
them.)
No one volume of portable size could cover so large and diversified
a State without a degree of condensation and elimination which must
result in only a brief summary of many an interesting story, the omis
sion of some locally important facts, and even the complete absence from
tours of pleasant and ambitious communities w r hich, because of the space
Vlll PREFACE
requirements and the necessary test of tourist interest, had to be passed
by without mention; as to this the editors can only regret the limits of
what can be placed between two covers. In so extensive a work it is
too much to hope that no errors have been overlooked; as to this the
editors can only plead that they have sought painstakingly to achieve
accuracy, and hope that the errors are few. Any such that are found
and reported will be corrected in subsequent editions.
For checking and rechecking many of the facts and figures gathered,
and in some cases the preparation of written material, the staff offers
grateful acknowledgment to the following State consultants:
Agriculture, Dean E. J. Kyle, Texas A. & M. College; Archeology
and Anthropology, M. P. Mayhall, University of Texas; Architecture,
Professor Samuel E. Gideon, University of Texas, Marvin Eickenroht
and Harvey P. Smith, San Antonio; Art, James Chillman, Houston,
Professor Samuel E. Gideon, University of Texas, Stella Hope Shurt-
leff, Dallas, and Mary Locker Kargl, San Antonio; Bibliography, Julia
Grothaus, San Antonio; Birds and Animals, Albert J. Kirn, Somerset,
and Roy W. Quillin, San Antonio; Bus Lines, A. F. Baldus, Fort
Worth; Theater, John William Rogers, Dallas; Early Mission History,
the Most Reverend M. S. Garriga, Corpus Christi, the Reverend Dr.
Paul J. Foik, Austin, and Dr. Carlos E. Castaneda, Austin; Forestry,
E. O. Siecke, director Texas Forest Service, College Station; Geology
and Paleontology, Dr. E. H. Sellards, University of Texas; History,
Dr. Eugene C. Barker and Dr. Charles W. Ramsdell; University of
Texas, Harbert Davenport, Brownsville, and Ike Moore, director,
San Jacinto Museum of History; Hotels, Jack White, San Antonio;
Industry and Commerce, Bureau of Business Research, University of
Texas, and Porter A. Whaley, general manager Texas State Manu
facturers Association, San Antonio; Literature and Folklore, Dr. J.
Frank Dobie, University of Texas; Livestock, the late E. Berkeley
Spiller, secretary State Cattlemen s Association, Fort Worth; Marine
Life, Clyde T. Reed, Texas College of Arts and Industries, Kingsville ;
Music, E. Clyde Whitlock, Fort Worth; Natural Setting, and Land,
Water and Mineral Resources, Terrell Bartlett, San Antonio ; Public
Health, Dr. E. W. Wright, president State Board of Health, Bowie;
Railroads, Edward McClannahan, San Antonio; Reptiles, Professor
Walter J. Williams, Baylor Museum, Waco; Sports and Recreation,
George W. White, Dallas; State Archives, Winnie Allen, Austin;
Wild Animals, Will J. Tucker, Austin, and Roy W. Quillin, San
Antonio ; Wild Flowers, Ellen Schulz Quillin, San Antonio.
PREFACE IX
In addition to these, 2,914 local consultants and volunteer associates,
a listing of whose names the limitation of space prevents, gave of their
services as called upon, in the interest of completeness and accuracy.
To all this great corps of assistants, and to newspapers, libraries and
museums throughout the State for their courtesy and co-operation, the
people of Texas owe a debt of gratitude.
J. FRANK DAVIS
State Supervisor
Texas Writers Project
massaaaxs^^
Contents
Page
FOREWORD, By State Highway Commission V
PREFACE vii
GENERAL INFORMATION xxiii
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS xxix
Part I. Texas: Yesterday and Today
SOUTHWESTERN EMPIRE 3
NATURAL SETTING 7
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 15
FIRST AMERICANS 30
HISTORY 36
GOVERNMENT 54
INDUSTRY, COMMERCE AND LABOR 58
TRANSPORTATION 65
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 74
RACIAL ELEMENTS 88
FOLKLORE AND FOLKWAYS 92
EDUCATION . 99
RELIGION 106
SOCIAL LIFE 112
SPORTS AND RECREATION 117
NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO 120
LITERATURE 124
THE THEATER 133
Music 136
ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS 141
ARCHITECTURE 149
xi
Xll CONTENTS
Part II. Fifteen Texas Cities
Page
AMARILLO . . . . . 159
AUSTIN 1 66
BEAUMONT 193
BROWNSVILLE (AND MATAMOROS, MEX.) . . . . . . . 203
CORPUS CHRISTI 215
DALLAS 224
EL PASO (AND JUAREZ, MEX.) . . . . . . 242
FORT WORTH . . . . . . . . .. ... . . 258
GALVESTON . 271
HOUSTON 287
LAREDO .... . ... . . 306
PORT ARTHUR . . . . . . 314
SAN ANTONIO (AND NEARBY MISSIONS) . . . . . . . 324
WACO 354
WICHITA FALLS . . . . .... . ... . . . 363
Part III. Along the State s Highways
TOUR 1 (Texarkana, Ark.) Texarkana Atlanta (Shreveport,
La.) [State u and 77] 375
XoUR 2 Maud Jefferson Marshall San Augustine Jasper
Junction with US 69 [US 59 and US 96] ... 377
TOUR 3 (Texarkana, Ark.) Texarkana Sherman Wichita Falls
Lubbock [US 82] - . . . . . 385
Section a. Texarkana to Sherman 36
Section b. Sherman to Wichita Falls 39 1
Section c. Wichita Falls to Lubbock . 394
TOUR 4 (Hugo, Okla.) Paris Mount Pleasant Gladewater
Tyler [US 271] 399
TOUR 5 (Durant, Okla.) Denison Tyler Lufkin Beaumont-
Port Arthur [US 69] s 4O2
Section a. Oklahoma Line to Greenville .... 4^2
Section b. Greenville to Jacksonville 4^3
Section c. Jacksonville to Port Arthur ..... 45
TOUR 6 (Durant, Okla.) Denison Dallas Corsicana Huntsville
Houston Galveston [US 75] . . . ... 4*2
Section a. Oklahoma Line to Dallas 4*3
Section b. Dallas to Fairfield . ... . 4 J 5
Section c. Fairfield to Houston 4 J 7
Section d. Houston to Galveston
CONTENTS Xlll
Page
TOUR 6A Houston San Jacinto State Park [State 225 and 134] . 4 2
TOUR 7 (Ardmore, Okla. ) Gainesville Dallas Waco La
Grange Sinton [US 77] ........ 424
Section a. Oklahoma Line to Dallas ..... 424
Section b. Dallas to Waco Circle ...... 4 2 7
Section c. Waco Circle to Schulenburg ..... 4 2 9
Section d. Schulenburg to Sinton ...... 43 2
TOUR 8 (Ryan, Okla.) Fort Worth Waco Austin San Antonio
Junction with US 83 (Laredo) [US 81] . . . 437
Section a. Oklahoma Line to Fort Worth .... 43$
Section b. Fort Worth to Waco Circle ..... 439
Section c. Waco Circle to San Antonio ..... 44^
Section d. San Antonio to Junction with US 83 447
TOUR 9 Wichita Falls Mineral Wells San Antonio Alice-
Brownsville [US 281] ........ 451
Section a. Wichita Falls to Mineral Wells .... 452
Section b. Mineral Wells to San Antonio .... 455
Section c. San Antonio to Brownsville ..... 4^O
TOUR 10 (Lawton, Okla.) Wichita Falls Seymour Abilene San
Angelo Junction with US 90 [US 277] .... 467
Section a. Oklahoma Line to San Angelo .... 4^7
Section b. San Angelo to Junction with US 90 474
TOUR 11 (Altus, Okla.) Vernon Seymour Cisco Junction with
us 67 [us 283] .......... 476
TOUR 12 Vernon Paducah Plainview Muleshoe Farwell
(Clovis, N. Mex.) [US 70] ....... 480
TOUR 13 Wichita Falls Quanah Childress Amarillo [US 287] . 484
Section a. Wichita Falls to Childress ..... 485
Section b. Childress to Amarillo ...... 487
TOUR 14 (Sayre, Okla.) Shamrock Amarillo Glenrio (Tucum-
cari, N. Mex.) [US 66] ........ 489
TOUR 15 (Arnett, Okla.) Higgins Pampa Amarillo Farwell
(Clovis, N. Mex.) [US 60] ....... 493
TOUR 16 (Gray, Okla.) Perryton Childress Abilene Junction-
Laredo Brownsville [US 83 and US 83X3 . . . 497
Section a. Oklahoma Line to Childress ..... 498
Section b. Childress to Abilene ..... 499
Section c. Abilene to Junction ....... 5 O1
Section d. Junction to Laredo ....... 5^3
Section e. Laredo to Brownsville ...... 5^9
TOUR 17 (Clayton, N. Mex.) Amarillo Lubbock Big Spring San
Angelo Fredericksburg San Antonio Victoria Port
Lavaca [US 87] .......... 5*6
XIV CONTENTS
TOUR 17 (Continued) p age
Section a. New Mexico Line to Amarillo . . 5 ! 7
Section b. Amarillo to Lubbock ...... 5*9
Section c. Lubbock to San Angelo 5^2
Section d. San Angelo to San Antonio 5 2 5
Section e. San Antonio to Port Lavaca 5 2 8
1 OUR 17A Comfort Bandera San Antonio [State 27, 16 and Bandera
Road] 531
TOUR 18 (Texarkana, Ark.) Texarkana Greenville Dallas Cle-
burne Stephenville Brown wood San Angelo Fort
Stockton Alpine Presidio [US 67] 534
Section a. Arkanasas Line to Dallas 535
Section b. Dallas to Stephenville 537
Section c. Stephenville to San Angelo 54^
Section d. San Angelo to Presidio 54 2
TOUR 19 (Shreveport, La.) Marshall Dallas Fort Worth Abi
lene Big Spring Pecos El Paso (Las Cruces, N.
Mex.) [US 80] 548
Section a. Louisiana Line to Dallas 549
Section b. Dallas to Fort Worth 553
Section c. Fort Worth to Abilene 554
Section d. Abilene to Big Spring 556
Section e. Big Spring to Van Horn 55"
Section f. Van Horn to El Paso 5^2
Section g. El Paso to New Mexico Line .... 565
TOUR 20 (Shreveport, La.) Jacksonville Palestine Taylor
Round Rock [US 79] 566
Section a. Louisiana Line to Buffalo 566
Section b. Buffalo to Round Rock 569
TOUR 21 (Logansport, La.) Palestine Waco Brownwood Abi
lene Lubbock Muleshoe [US 84] 57 2
Section a. Louisiana Line to Waco 573
Section b. Waco to Roscoe 575
Section c. Roscoe to Muleshoe 577
TOUR 22 Timpson Lufkin Houston Bay City Port Lavaca
Gregory [US 59 and State 35] 580
Section a. Timpson to Houston 5*
Section b. Houston to Gregory 55
TOUR 23 (Lake Charles, La.) Beaumont Houston San Antonio
Del Rio Van Horn [US 90] 593
Section a. Louisiana Line to Houston 594
Section b. Houston to San Antonio 596
Section c. San Antonio to Del Rio 604
Section d. Del Rio to Junction with US 62 6l2
CONTENTS XV
TOUR 23A Marathon Grand Canyon of Santa Helena [State 227] .
TOUR 24 Houston Brenham Austin Fredericksburg Junction
Fort Stockton Junction with US 80 [US 290] . .
Section a. Houston to Austin .......
Section b. Austin to Junction .......
Section c. Junction to Junction with US 80
ToUR 24A Hempstead Navasota Washington Brenham [State 6
and 90] ............
TOUR 25 Rosenburg Victoria Alice Laredo [US 59] . . .
Section a. Rosenburg to Victoria ......
Section b. Victoria to Alice .......
Section c. Alice to Laredo ........
TOUR 26 San Antonio Kenedy Beeville Corpus Christi [US 181]
ToUR 27 Junction with US 277 Aspermont Post Tahoka Bronco
(Roswell, N. Mex.) [US 380] ......
TOUR 28 (Carlsbad, N. Mex.) Pecos Fort Stockton Junction with
US 90 [US 285] ..........
TOUR 29 (Carlsbad, N. Mex.) New Mexico Line El Paso [US 62]
Page
619
630
631
O35
643
645
646
647
650
652
656
66l
663
Part IV. Appendices
GLOSSARY 669
CHRONOLOGY 671
A SELECTED READING LIST OF TEXAS BOOKS 677
INDEX 701
Illustrations
HISTORY
Murals, El Paso Post Office
Section of Fine Arts, Treas
ury Dept.
Portrait of Stephen F. Austin
Portrait of Sam Houston
The Alamo, San Antonio *
San Jacinto Memorial, San Ja-
cinto State Park, near Houston
Elwood M. Payne
Sam Houston s Home, Huntsville
The U. S. Army Experiments
with Camels (c. 1856)
U. S. Army Signal Corps
Page
Between 28 and 29
Pioneer Plaza, El Paso (c. 1880)
El Paso Chamber of Com
merce
Old Fort Davis (c. 1885)
The Quadrangle, viewed through
a sally port, Fort Sam Hous
ton *
Ex-Slave with Field Horn, near
Marshall f
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
Weighing Cotton at a Compress,
Houston f
Loading Cotton, Galveston
V erkin Studio
Municipal Docks, Beaumont
Business Men s Studio
Turning Basin, Corpus Christi
U. S. Army Air Corps
Loading Oil, Port Arthur
Gulf Oil Company
Oil Tanks, near Beaumont, with
Spindletop Field in Distance
Business Men s Studio
Between 58 and 59
Oil Derricks in Residential Dis
trict, Kilgore f
Oil Field Worker f
Main Street, easterly from Field
Street, Dallas
Frank Rogers
Gulf Building, Houston
Bob Bailey; Courtesy Hous
ton Chamber of Commerce
Lumber in Railroad Yards, Mar
shall f
In a Quicksilver Mine, Terlingua
ARCHITECTURE, OLD AND NEW
Sacristy Window (often called
"The Rose Window"), Mis
sion San Jose, San Antonio *
Mission Concepcion, San An
tonio *
Cloister Arches, Mission San
Jose*
Between 152 and 153
Chapel of Presidio of La Bahia,
Goliad *
Mission San Juan, San Antonio *
State Capitol, Austin *
Administration-Library Building,
University of Texas, Austin *
XV111 ILLUSTRATIONS
ARCHITECTURE, OLD AND NEW continued
Post Chapel, Randolph Field Modern Residence, Monterrey
U. S. Army Air Corps Style, Dallas
Municipal Auditorium, San An- Harry Bennett; Courtesy of
tonio the owner, Carl L. Phin-
Former Vance Hotel, Castro- ney
ville * A "Sunday House," Fredericks-
burg *
Old Stage Station, Leon Springs *
LITTLE MEXICOS
Entering El Paso from Juarez,
Mexico
Crushing Corn for Tortillas
In the Mexican Quarter, San An
tonio *
Girl Grinding Peppers f
Ready for Battle f
WPA Tipica Orchestra, San An
tonio *
Between 246 and 247
Housewife, Crystal City f
Homes in Mexican Quarter, San
Antonio f
Chapel of Miracles, San An
tonio *
Shrine in Mexican Home f
In a Tortilla Factory f
Pecan Shellers f
FROM THE SABINE TO THE RIO GRANDE Between 340 and 341
"Air-Mail Over Texas," Mural
in Post Office, Dallas
Section of Fine Arts, Public
Buildings Administration
Randolph Field, from 6,000 feet
U. S. Army Air Corps
Kelly Field, San Antonio
U. S. Army Air Corps
Parachute Loft, Randolph Field
U. S. Army Air Corps
Galveston from the Gulf, Recrea
tion Center in foreground
A String From an Inland Lake
Dallas Times Herald
Duck Shooting, Bachman s Lake,
near Dallas
Denny Hayes; Courtesy of
Dallas Times Herald
Motorboat Racing, Roy Inks
Lake, near Austin
Botanic Gardens, Fort Worth *
Pink Spoonbills, near Rockport *
Field of Bluebonnets, the State
Flower *
Browning Room, Baylor Uni
versity, Waco
THE FARM LANDS
Farm Couple in Town on Satur
day Afternoon f
Weighing in Cotton, South
Texas f
Picking Cotton, near Lubbock *
In a Spinach Field, La Pryor f
Windmill, Watering Trough, and
Barn, near Spur f
Harvesting Wheat, near Wichita
Falls *
Grain Elevators $
Between 402 and 403
Date Palms, Winter Garden Dis
trict
Crystal City Chamber of
Commerce
Picking Grapefruit, Lower Rio
Grande Valley f
Wife of Resettled Negro Farmer,
Sabine Farms f
Turkey Trot, Cuero
Cuero Chamber of Commerce
and Agriculture
Farmers Market, Weatherford f
ILLUSTRATIONS
XIX
CATTLE COUNTRY
Cattle Brands, Panhandle-Plains
Museum, Canyon \
Ranch House of the "Walking
X," near Marfa f
Cowboy f
A Bunkhouse Interior f
Cattle Round-up
Branding a Calf f
Between 496 and 497
Chuck and Bed Roll Wagon f
"Come and Get It!"
Wild Steer Riding at Rodeo
Making a Saddle f
Cowboy Bootmaker f
Center of the Cattle Trade f
Cattle Auction, San Augustine f
NATURAL SETTING
Mule Ear Peaks
Texas National Guard
Carmen Mountains
Texas National Guard
Rio Grande, flowing from Santa
Helena Canyon *
View of Rio Grande from Bou-
quillas, Mexico, with Chisos
Mountains in Distance
U. S. Department of Interior
Green Gulch, Big Bend (Pommel
Peak on left) *
Buchanan Dam, on Colorado
River *
Cattle Entering Palo Duro Can
yon to Winter
McCormick Co.
Between 622 and 623
The Lighthouse, Palo Duro Can
yon
McCormick Co.
Guadalupe Peak
Aultman Photo Co. and El
Paso County Board of De
velopment
Scenic Drive, above El Paso
Airview, Mariscal Canyon
Texas National Guard
Texas Coyote (Prairie Wolf)
Jack Specht
Texas Armadillo*
* Staff photo, Work Projects Administration
fLee: Farm Security Administration
^Rothstein: Farm Security Administration
Lange: Farm Security Administration
38&&3Z^^^
Map.
Page
HISTORICAL PICTORIAL MAP OF TEXAS .... front end paper
HISTORICAL PICTORIAL MAP OF TEXAS .... rear end paper
TRANSPORTATION MAP 66 and 67
AMARILLO . . . 163
AUSTIN , 173
STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS . 178
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS CAMPUS GROUNDS ... 182 and 183
BEAUMONT . 200
BROWNSVILLE 209
BROWNSVILLE VICINITY 212 and 213
CORPUS CHRISTI . . . . . . 218
CORPUS CHRISTI VICINITY 220 and 221
DALLAS DOWNTOWN. 235
DALLAS VICINITY . 238 and 239
EL PASO DOWNTOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
EL PASO 254 and 255
FORT WORTH DOWNTOWN 4 . 264
FORT WORTH 269
GALVESTON 281
GALVESTON VICINITY . . . . . 285
HOUSTON DOWNTOWN . . . . . 299
HOUSTON. . 302 and 303
LAREDO >-. . .311
xxi
XX11 MAPS
Page
PORT ARTHUR 320
ALAMO FORTRESS AREA, 1836 331
SAN ANTONIO DOWNTOWN 336 and 337
SAN ANTONIO 345
WACO 359
WICHITA FALLS 3^9
TOUR KEY MAP 372 and 373
SAN JACINTO BATTLEFIELD 421
TOUR 23A BIG BEND 620
STATE ROAD MAP OF TEXAS 690 to 700
General Information
(See State map, for highways, points of interest not shown on smaller maps,
and forest and park areas. For routes of railroads, airlines, bus lines and
water transportation see Transportation map.}
Railroads: Major Systems: Missouri Pacific; Southern Pacific; Mis
souri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) ; Santa Fe; Frisco; Burlington; Kansas City
Southern; Cotton Belt; Rock Island. Major Independent Lines:
Angelina & Neches River R.R. Co.; Eastland, Wichita Falls & Gulf
R.R. Co.; Fredericksburg & Northern Ry. Co.; Jefferson & North
western R.R. Co. ; Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. of Texas ;
Marshall, Elysian Fields Southeastern Ry. Co. ; The Nacogdoches &
Southeastern R.R. Co.; Paris & Mt. Pleasant R.R. Co.; Port Isabel &
Rio Grande Valley Ry. ; Rio Grande & Eagle Pass Ry. Co. ; Roscoe,
Snyder & Pacific Ry. Co. ; Texas Electric Ry. Co. ; The Texas Mexican
Ry. Co. ; Texas South-Eastern R.R. Co. ; Uvalde & Northern Ry. Co. ;
Waco, Beaumont, Trinity & Sabine Ry. Co. ; Wichita Falls & Southern
R.R. Co. ; Wichita Falls, Ranger & Fort Worth R.R. Co. ; the Wichita
Falls & Southern Ry. Co.
Highways: Thirty-four Federal highways, eight of them international,
connecting with highways into Mexico, one of them transcontinental.
No inspection except at international border. Highways are patrolled
by officers wearing uniforms of brown trousers and blue shirts, with red
stripes at the sides of trousers, operating under the Department of
Public Safety, with the State Rangers, as a motorized force of peace
officers; duties include supplying general travel information and emer
gency aid in case of accident. Supported by a four-cent state gasoline
tax, one cent of which is allocated to State school fund, one cent to fund
for retirement of county and district road bonds, and balance to the
State Highway Commission for construction and maintenance of
highways.
Motor Vehicle Laws: Maximum speed, 45 m. ; within town and city
limits, 20 m. ; school zones in cities, 10 m. ; on highways, 20 m. Driver
must have operator s license on his person. Non-resident motorists must
apply to the county tax collector for registration with the State High-
XXIV GENERAL INFORMATION
way Department within 25 days after arrival in State. Fee 50^, tourist
permit valid for 120 days. Non-residents holding driver s license from
home State can drive in Texas without State driver s license. Chauf
feurs must have license and badge. Minimum age limit 14 years; under
1 8 years, consent of parent or guardian required. Hand signals must
be used. Failure to stop and render aid is a felony.
Busses: Interstate: Airline Motor Coaches, Inc.; Altus- Wichita P^alls
Bus Lines; Bowen Motor Coaches; Continental Stages; Henderson-
Shreveport Motor Coaches; Lee Way Stages; McMakin Motor
Coaches ; L. A. Nance Bus Lines, Inc. ; New Mexico Transportation
Co., Inc.; Oklahoma Transportation Co.; Orange Ball Bus Line;
Pacific Greyhound Lines ; Pageway Stage Line ; Parrish Stage Lines ;
Rio Grande Stages, Inc.; Santa Fe Trail Stages; Southwestern Grey
hound Lines, Inc. ; Texas-Oklahoma Stages, Inc. ; Tri-State Transit
Co. Seventy-four other lines offer intrastate service.
Airlines: American Airlines, Inc. (AA), New York to Los Angeles,
stops at Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, Big Spring and El Paso; Braniff
Airways (BNF), Chicago to Brownsville, stops at Fort Worth, Dallas,
Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville; also lines
between Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston ; Fort Worth, Wichita Falls,
and Amarillo; also connects with Pan American Airways System
(PAA), Mexico, Central and South America, at Brownsville; Trans
continental and Western Air, Inc. (TWA), New York to Los Angeles,
stops at Amarillo; Delta Air Lines (DAL), Dallas, Shreveport, and
Charleston, stops at Dallas and Tyler; Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Hous
ton, New Orleans, New York, stops at Houston, Corpus Christi,
Brownsville, San Antonio and Beaumont; Continental Air Lines, Inc.,
El Paso to Denver, stops at El Paso.
Waterways: Passenger carrying steamship lines: American Gulf
Orient Line; American Scantic Line; American West African Line;
Armement Deppe Line; Bull Steamship Line (Baltimore and Carolina
Line); Castle Line; Canadian Transport Co.; Clyde-Mallory Line;
Creole-Odero Line ; Delta Line ; Dixie Mediterranean Line ; Fern Line ;
French Line; Gulf Dunkirk Line; Gulf States Line; Gulf Gdynia
Line; Hamburg-American Line; Holland-American Line; Kerr Line;
Kokusai Kisen Kaisha Line; Kellogg Steamship Co.; Larrinaga Line;
Luckenback Lines; Lykes Bros. Lines (Lykes-Coastwise Line, Inc.,
Lykes West Indies Line, Southern States Line, Dixie U. K. Line, Gulf
West Mediterranean Line) ; Moore and McCormack Co., Inc.; Mitsui
Line; Nervion Line; North German Lloyd Line; Reardon Smith Line;
Scandinavian- American Line ; Osaka Shosen Kaisha Line ; S. Sgitovitch
GENERAL INFORMATION XXV
& Co. ; Southern Steamship Co. ; Swedish Amer-Mex Line ; Unterweser
Reederei Line; Texas Continental Line; Wilhelmsen Line. Ferries:
Texas Highway Commission, between Galveston and Port Bolivar.
Accommodations: Tourist lodges and auto camps are available gener
ally. Dude ranches are increasingly popular in the southwestern and
western sections. Accommodations in the Big Bend district are limited
and inquiries should be made in advance. At the height of the tourist
season along the coast, advance reservations should be made at resort
hotels and lodges. During the hunting season, hunters should arrange
for guides, lodgings, and the like, before planning trips. Information in
regard to hunting leases can be secured from the Game, Fish and Oyster
Commission, Austin, Tex.
Poisonous Plants, Reptiles, Insects: Rattlesnakes are common through
out the State. Suction kits for first aid are available at most drug
stores, but in case of snakebite, consult a physician at once. Copperheads
and cottonmouth water moccasins are usually found along streams. The
most dangerous of Texas four poisonous reptiles, the coral snake, is
encountered less often but occurs over a wide area. Red, yellow and
black rings extend completely around the body of the coral snake. The
State s only poisonous spider is the Black Widow, small, black, with a
bright red spot on its body ; it is found chiefly in the southwestern area
(the bite of this spider usually requires immediate medical attention).
Centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, vinegaroons, and several other venom
ous insects exist in Texas; their bites are less dangerous than painful.
Jellyfish, sting rays, and Portuguese men-of-war are often in the Gulf
or bay waters of the coast; their stings are painful but not dangerous.
Poison ivy is common ; the berries of sumac are poisonous.
Climate and Equipment: During the summer months light clothing
should be worn; in winter months an overcoat or heavy jacket is neces
sary for comfort during the sudden northers. Along the coast, beach
wearing apparel is ideal for summer, but persons subject to sunburn
should exercise caution. Hunters and hikers, particularly in the southern
and western areas, should be on guard at all times against rattlesnakes.
Boots, with trousers and jackets of heavy materials are most suitable for
jaunts through the chaparral and mountainous regions. In the trans-
Pecos section travelers should carry water for drinking and for radia
tors, in making any sort of an expedition off main traveled highways;
the country is sparsely settled. Equipment for hunting and fishing can
be rented at most resorts. Tourists in the eastern part of the State
should have mosquito bars and lotions when camping. Avoid dry
canyons and creek beds at all seasons. Floods come suddenly and fill
XXVI GENERAL INFORMATION
these ravines without warning. It is extremely dangerous to camp in
any ravine, canyon or creek bed at any time.
State Fish and Game Laws: Copies of these laws are distributed free
of charge by sporting goods stores, on request. Game animals are
defined as deer, elks, antelopes, wild sheep, bears, peccaries and squirrels;
game birds are turkeys, ducks, geese, brant, grouse, prairie chickens,
pheasants, quail, partridges, doves, snipe, chachalacas, plovers, and shore
birds of all varieties. The state is divided into north and south zones
for bird hunting, seasons differing in each zone. Some counties have no
open season. Antelope, wild sheep, and elk, no open season. White-tail
deer, Nov. 16 to Dec. 31 ; black-tail (mule), east of Pecos River, Nov.
1 6 to Dec. 31 ; west of Pecos River, Nov. 16 to Nov. 30, exceptions in
various counties; squirrels, May, June, July, Oct., Nov., and Dec., with
exceptions in various counties. Bag limits on all game. Non-resident
hunting license, $25.
There are 230 kinds of fishes in waters of the State, including large-
mouthed bass, spotted bass, crappie, calico bass, bluegill, sunfish (several
varieties), goggle eye, rock bass, yellow bass, white bass, catfish (includ
ing large channel cat), pickerel, gar, drum. Salt water fishes include
Spanish mackerel, kingfish, gulf pike, sheepshead, pompano, redfish,
southern flounder, spade fish, red snapper, sea trout, jewfish, tarpon,
mullet and menhaden. Laws vary in counties as to season, size and
bag limit. Non-resident fishing license $5, five-day license $1.10.
License is required to sell fish.
Liquor Control: Sale of liquor is by county option; towns are bone
dry, or have unrestricted sale in original package; wine and beer to 14
per cent by volume.
Archeological Sites: Unlawful to dig in archeological sites west of the
Pecos River without written consent of owner of land. In other regions
the laws of trespass apply.
Picking Wild Flowers: Unlawful to pick wild flowers, shrubs, cacti,
holly, bluebonnets or any other ornamental plant on private property
without the consent of owner of land. Forbidden to pick any such plant
in public parks or grounds of any corporate body or body politic. This
law has been interpreted to include such plants as are found at the side
of the road. Fine $10.
Other Laws: No trees may be chopped down on private property.
Fires should not be kindled on private property or on forest reserves.
GENERAL INFORMATION XXV11
Texas Rangers and State Highway patrolmen can make arrests in case
of negligence in building fires.
Recreational Areas: Gulf Coast region (Sabine Lake to Point Isabel),
surf bathing, game fishing, and hunting, usual water sports, including
regattas, motor boating, sailing, swimming and speed boating; region
popular with tourists in summer, hunters in winter. San Antonio region
(including New Braunfels, San Marcos, Austin and hill country to the
west), fresh water fishing, deer and turkey hunting, riding, canoeing,
camping; section has numerous caves of interest for exploration. Del
Rio region (Devil s River), wilder section, fishing, camping, big game
hunting. Brush country, San Antonio to Mexican border, deer and
peccary hunting, quail, white wings and mourning doves, and big game.
The trans-Pecos (Davis and Chisos Mountains region), big game hunt
ing, hiking, mountain climbing, archeological exploration. Texas-
Mexican border, bull fights, wild game dinners, cock fighting, curio
fhops, night clubs, tourist resorts, big game hunting.
Information Service: Tourist information, including State highway
maps, road conditions, accommodations, and seasonal necessities can be
obtained from Chambers of Commerce, major oil company service sta
tions, American Automobile Association branch offices, or upon applica
tion to any of the bureau offices in the 12 districts of the Texas Highway
Patrol. Furlong Service, 423 N. St. Mary s St., San Antonio, furnishes
authentic road information regarding Pan-American highway between
San Antonio and the Mexican border, and Mexico City.
Mexican Border Regulations: Passports for entering Mexico are not
required of American tourists, but European citizens must have pass
ports from their governments, and must deposit bonds of 750 pesos at
port of entry. Tourist card, obtainable from the nearest Mexican
consulate, entitles Americans to six months stay, can be renewed before
expiration, costs 81^. An automobile for personal use can be entered
on temporary automobile importation permit from Customs Office, good
for 90 days; can be renewed for additional 90 days. Owner must
deposit at port of entry driver s license or like document and proof of
ownership. Each car may carry two emergency tires (with or without
wheel), bumpers, radio, trunk, and ordinary tools. Cost of permit 85^.
Driver s permit required in Mexico City. Tourists will not be vac
cinated on crossing border but certificate of vaccination is necessary on
return into the United States. There is no formality for entry into
Mexico for a period of less than 24 hours provided the visitor remains
in the city of entry or within 10 miles of the Border.
Residents of the United States may import, duty free, articles to a
XXV111 GENERAL INFORMATION
value of one hundred dollars ($100) for personal use or for gifts.
Limited supply of tinned edibles, filtered water, and small medicine kit
should be carried. Gasoline and oil supplies are adequate. Letters of
identification are advisable. Mexican Automobile Association and
American Automobile Association are reliable sources of information.
If departure through port other than that of entry is desired, port of
entry must be notified 15 days prior to date of return. Check regula
tions with consulates or border Chamber of Commerce, as changes are
made without notice.
Trailer Travel: Limit of 45 feet for length of car and trailer; clear
ance lights required for trailers of 70 inches length or more.
zx&&xzxxxzzt&xxx<^^^
Calendar of Annual Events
First week
Fourth week
JANUARY
at Mission Texas Citrus Fiesta
at Dallas
Southwestern Style Show
FEBRUARY
First two weeks at San Antonio
Week of twenty- at Laredo
second
Fourth week at Shamrock
Fourth week at El Paso
No fixed date at Houston
Texas Open Golf Tournament
International Washington s
Birthday Celebration ; rodeo ;
bullfight and other entertain
ment characteristic of Mex
ico, at Nuevo Laredo
Easter Panhandle Livestock
Show
Southwestern Livestock and
Agricultural Show
Houston Country Club Invita
tion Golf Tournament
Week end before
Lent
FEBRUARY OR MARCH
at Brownsville Charro Days; Texas-Mexican
border celebration, featuring
early-day costumes and cus
toms
Mardi Gras
Five days ending at Galveston
Shrove Tuesday
MARCH
First week at Amarillo Mother-in-Law Day
Second Friday at Fort Worth Southwestern Exposition and
(nine days) Fat Stock Show; Automobile
Show, and Rodeo
No fixed date at Abilene Spring Music Festival
XXX
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS
MARC H continued
No fixed date at Crystal City Spinach Festival
No fixed date at San Angelo Fat Stock Show and Rodeo
No fixed date at Amarillo Panhandle Livestock Associa
tion Meet and Amarillo Fat
Stock Show
MARCH OR APRIL
Night before at Fredericksburg Easter Rabbit Fires, lighting of
Easter bonfires to perpetuate a
legend for children
No fixed date at Amarillo Tri-State Music Festival
No fixed date
No fixed date
Week of twenty-
first
Twenty-first
Week of twenty
fifth
No fixed date
SPRING
at Galveston Oleander Fete
at Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock
Exposition
APRIL
at San Antonio Fiesta de San Jacinto
at Houston San Jacinto Day Celebration ;
commemorating the Battle of
San Jacinto, 1836
at McCamey Rattlesnake Derby
at Austin Texas Relays
APRIL OR MAY
No fixed date at Galveston Splash Day, opening summer
beach season
No fixed date at Gainesville Gainesville Community Circus
MAY
First week
First week
Fifteenth
State-wide
at Austin
at San Elizario
Cinco de Mayo, Mexican patri
otic celebration, anniversary
of the battle of Pueblo
Interscholastic League finals
(athletic and literary events)
Feast of San Isidro, religious
observance
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS XXXI
Twenty-ninth
No fixed date
No fixed date
First week
Nineteenth
No fixed date
No fixed date
MAY-
at Athens
at Houston
rontinued
East Texas Old Fiddlers Con
test
State Championship Trapshoot,
Houston Gun Club
at Fredericksburg Saengerfest, convention of Ger
man singing clubs
JUNE
at Corpus Christi Buccaneer Days; pirate cos
tumes, bathing beauty revue
State-wide Emancipation Day, Negro holi
day
at Yoakum Tom-Tom, tomato festival
at Jacksonville National Tomato Show and
Festival
No fixed date
No fixed date
First week
First week
First week
First week
Sixteenth
Eighteenth-
twentieth
Fourth week
(three weeks)
Last Friday
Fourth week
JUNE OR JULY
at Galveston Fishing Rodeo
at Mineral Wells Texas Health Festival ; elabo
rate entertainment program
JULY
Cotulla
Pecos
Ozona
Canadian
Rocksprings
Falfurrias
at Stamford
at Bandera
at Eagle Pass
at H
at Ysleta
at Dallas
at Dallas
at Christoval
at Big Spring
Rodeos
Texas Cowboy Reunion
Pioneer Festival
Street carnival and Indian
dances; bullfight in Piedras
Negras
Fiesta, ceremonial Indian dances
Czecho-Slovakian Celebration
Southwestern Style Show
Old Settlers Reunion; barbecue
(25 counties)
Old Settlers Reunion
XXX11
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL E V E N T S
J u L Y continued
No fixed date at Seguin San Antonio Boating Associa
tion Races and Water Sports,
Lake McQueeney
No fixed date at Fort Worth Opening of Casa Mariana
No fixed date
JULY OR AUGUST
at Port Aransas
Tarpoon Round-up and Deep
Sea Rodeo
AUGUST
First week
Seventeenth-
twentieth
Twenty-fifth
Fourth week
Fourth week
No fixed date
at Olton
at Port Isabel
at Castroville
at Gainesville
at Matador
at Galveston
Rodeo
Rio Grande Valley Fishing
Rodeo Round-up
St. Louis Feast Day, religious
services in honor of the
patron saint of the village
Gainesville Community Circus
Old Settlers Association Re
union
Galveston Island
Boat Race
Auxiliary
A u T u M N
No fixed date at Beaumont South Texas State Fair
No fixed date at Waco Brazos Valley Fair and Live
stock Show
SEPTEMBER
First week at El Paso Herald-Post Kids Rodeo
Sixteenth State-wide Diez y Seis de Septiembre, anni
versary of Mexican independ
ence from Spain
Fourth week at Quanah Texas-Oklahoma Wolf Hunt,
headquarters at "Wolf City"
on the C. T. Watkins Ranch
No fixed date at Amarillo Tri-State Fair (Texas, New
Mexico, Oklahoma)
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS XXX111
Ninth- fourteenth
Twenty-sixth-
twenty-eighth
No fixed date
(two weeks)
No fixed date
No fixed date
No fixed date
No fixed date
No fixed date
No fixed date
OCTOBER
at Lufkin Texas Forest Festival
at Gilmer East Texas Yamboree, festival
in celebration of the harvest
ing of yams
at Dallas State Fair of Texas
at El Paso First Cavalry Division Horse
Show, Fort Bliss
at Robstown King Cotton Carnival
at Tyler Texas Rose Festival
at Houston South Texas Exposition, indus
trial-commercial exhibits
at Midland Rodeo
at Gonzales County Fair and Pecan Exposi
tion
NOVEMBER
No fixed date at Cuero
Turkey Trot (usually every
second year)
WINTER
No fixed date at Harlingen Valley Mid-Winter Fair, agri
cultural fair and race meet
Twelfth
Twenty-fourth
Twenty-ninth
(three days)
DECEMBER
at San Antonio
at Anson
at El Paso
Matachines; Mexican - Indian
religious dances
Cowboys Christmas Ball
Sun Carnival; Sun Bowl
Pageant
No fixed date
DECEMBER AND JANUARY
at San Antonio Los Posadas and Los Past ores;
and Texas-Mex- Mexican nativity plays
ican Border
^&&&&*&&&^^
PARTI
Texas: Yesterday and Today
Southwestern Empire
TEXAS, twenty-eighth State to be admitted to the Union (1845)
and the only one which, as an independent Nation, came in by
treaty, derives its name from tejas, a word meaning "friend,"
"friendly," or "allies," which was used by several confederated Indian
tribes as a greeting, and by early Spanish explorers as a general designa
tion of all Indians in present-day east Texas. It is known as the Lone
Star State, from the single star upon the red, white, and blue banner
which waved over the Texas Republic and still is the State flag.
Only by comparisons can one grasp how much territory is embraced
in Texas. Its area is equal to the combined areas of all New England,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. If Texas
could be folded upward and over with its northernmost line as a hinge,
Brownsville would be 120 miles from Canada; if eastward, El Paso
would be 40 miles off the Florida coast ; if westward, Orange would lie
out in the Pacific 215 miles beyond Lower California. One of its cities,
Dalhart, is nearer to the State capitals of New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming than to the Texas capital at
Austin. Its population in 1930 was 5,824,715 and a conservative esti
mate in 1940 places it at 6,450,000. The State occupies one-twelfth of
the area of the continental United States.
Texas is unique among the American States not only because it
entered the Union by a treaty made as an independent republic, but also
4 TEXAS
by reason of a clause in that treaty whereby "new States of convenient
size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas,
and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of said
State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to
admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution." The
question, occasionally discussed, as to whether or not, if Texas insisted,
the National Government would be obliged to admit the additional
States, is academic ; no desire has ever been seriously evinced on the part
of Texans to split up the "southwestern empire" of which they are so
proud, even though by doing so they might have ten United States
Senators, instead of two.
Until only lately one of the last American frontiers, Texas even
now is but sparsely inhabited in many areas. Once a province of Spain
and then a part of the Mexican Empire and Republic, it still, along its
southern border and for many miles northward, has a large Latin-
American population. But yesterday an almost limitless open range, it
today has more cattle than human beings and many a ranch whose area
is better expressed in square miles than in acres.
Its history covers four centuries and has been enacted under six
national flags. Well-preserved or restored Franciscan missions that
were already aged before the American Revolution are among its land
marks. Its shrine is the chapel of the San Antonio de Bexar mission-
fortress called the Alamo, in which a century ago every defender met
death but won undying fame. Where the San Jacinto River meets
Buffalo Bayou is the battlefield upon which Sam Houston s little army
defeated a greatly superior force and won Texas independence from
Mexico.
The official motto of the State, derived from its name s earliest
meaning, is "Friendship." The bluebonnet, which in spring carpets
great areas, is the State flower. The official State song is "Texas, Our
Texas," although in practice the University of Texas song, "The Eyes
of Texas," is more commonly heard on official occasions. The State
tree is the pecan; the State bird, the mockingbird.
Texas has plains and mountains, sweeping beaches and deep forests,
great seaports and teeming inland markets, crowded areas and vast open
spaces, spots as comfortably civilized as Manhattan s Park Avenue, and
spots as barrenly wild as Patagonia.
Its culture derives from several races and many States.
Its crops with cotton as king include wheat in the temperate
north and grapefruit and oranges in the subtropical south.
Its mineral wealth is enormous. Oil and gas underlie much of the
State s surface, and many of its fields have had a spectacular history.
Its cities are progressive and fast-growing. Houston, with its 50-
mile ship channel to the Gulf, and its many railroads, is a commercial
SOUTHWESTERN EMPIRE 5
and shipping metropolis. The sky line of Dallas spreads above an ever-
increasing industrial activity, and the initiative and public spirit of its
people were exhibited to the world in its 1936 Centennial Exposition.
San Antonio is a city of picturesque contrasts, where ancient little
houses with yard-thick adobe walls huddle in the very shadow of sky
scrapers, and all the bustling life of a modern American city is set
against a background of Old Mexico.
Fort Worth is the center of the cattle and meat packing industry of
the State. The great dome of the capitol at Austin dominates a magnifi
cent collection of educational buildings, the property of a State univer
sity which from its ownership of oil lands gives promise of becoming
the wealthiest in the world. El Paso, in the far west, has American
energy and Mexican color. Galveston, on the Gulf, is picturesque, busy
with shipping, and outside of its mighty sea wall possesses one of the
most beautiful beaches in America. Other smaller cities, each in its own
way, possess distinction.
Randolph Field, "the West Point of the Air," is in Texas, as also is
the largest army post in the country at Fort Sam Houston.
The West of ranch and rodeo, big hats and handsome riding boots
remains, but it is not violently "wild and woolly" as of old. Yet the
standards and customs of the frontier have not wholly vanished, even in
the large cities. The cattleman, cowboy, sheriff, and Texas Ranger ride
more miles today behind a steering-wheel than astride a horse, but the
six-shooter still arbitrates many a dispute, urban as well as rural, and
juries are likely to be lenient as regards the resulting homicides if
womenfolk are involved in the cause, if certain expletives are spoken
unsmilingly, or if a self-defense plea seems to have justification.
The visitor who expects any definite Texas accent or dialect to be
general will be disappointed, for immigration has brought into the State
some of the speech and idiom of every section of the country. On city
streets Middle Western phrases and accents are as often heard as those
of the eastern South. One can seldom be sure, without knowing the
speaker s background, whether "evening" means afternoon as in the
South, or after dark as in the North. Many provincial Texans use
"ain t" in the same all-embracing way as many provincial New Eng-
landers for "am not," "is not," and "are not" and some, whose
infusion of Yankee blood, if any, is so far in the past as to have been
forgotten, give "ow" the same nasal drawl as a native of northern
Vermont "the color is braown."
More Southern than Western is the State s approach to most politi
cal and social questions; more Western than Southern are the manners
of most of its people. By tradition and practice the native Texan is ex
pansive, friendly and hospitable. Within such limitations as are de
manded by reasonable business acumen and social caution, the not
O TEXAS
discourteous stranger is usually accepted at approximately his own
valuation until he gives evidence to the contrary.
No one man has ever seen all of Texas, and no visitor can hope to
do so. But such part of it as may be selected for a tour unless it be in
the most remote and unsettled regions can be seen very easily, for
more than 16,000 miles of railroads connect its cities with the remainder
of the country and with each other, and there are (in 1940, with many
more under way and projected) approximately 180,000 miles of roads,
including 23,194 miles of State highways of which 14,679 miles are
also Federal.
Regardless of what section the tourist desires to visit, enjoyment of
his trip will be enhanced if he first gathers, from the general chapters
which here follow, a comprehensive mental picture of the State as a
whole and of the more notable achievements of its past and present.
*;,.
Natural Setting
THE boundaries of Texas reach from the semi-tropical regions of
the Rio Grande, a land of oranges and palms, past the wind
swept Llano Estacado to the northern boundary more than 800
miles distant, where there are broad, treeless plains, and where winter
comes suddenly. On the eastern limits tall pine forests shade the
slumbering bayous, while along the southwestern border stand the pink
and purple canyons of the Big Bend, and the deserts of the trans-Pecos
shimmer beneath a bright blue sky. The greatest distance from east to
west is approximately 775 miles.
Texas occupies a position midway between the Atlantic and the
Pacific and, with the exception of Florida, is the most southerly State
in the Union. Approximately equidistant from the Equator and the
Arctic Circle, it covers more than 13 degrees of longitude and more
than ten and one-half degrees of latitude.
Four States, one foreign nation, and a gulf border Texas : Arkansas,
Oklahoma, and New Mexico on the north; Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Oklahoma on the east; Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south;
New Mexico and Mexico on the west.
Along the 800 miles of boundary between Texas and the Mexican
Republic flows the stream named by the Spaniards Rio Bravo del Norte
Bold River of the North but which in the United States is called
the Rio Grande. Between the Sabine River on the east, which separates
8 TEXAS
Texas from Louisiana, and the Rio Grande, seven rivers run south
easterly to the Gulf, the principal ones being the Trinity, the Brazos,
and the Colorado. Something like two-fifths of the State lies east of the
Colorado, and in that area are many of the more important cities and a
large proportion of the State s inhabitants.
Water covers 3,498 square miles of Texas. The land surface,
262,398 square miles in extent, rises from altitudes of less than 50 feet
along the 370 miles of continuous coast line to almost 9,000 feet in the
mountains of the trans-Pecos region.
Primarily an inland empire, Texas nevertheless has the third longest
coast line of the States. It stands midway between Latin America and
the remainder of North America, and is thus the meeting place of many
important land and sea routes.
Texas consists essentially of three gently sloping plains separated by
abrupt steps or escarpments. These plains are really parts of the three
broad continental divisions: the Coastal Plain, the Central Plains, and
the Western High Plains. The trans-Pecos region in the extreme south
west, however, is characterized by rugged mountains, elevated basins,
and deep canyons.
The Coastal Plain, from low shores and bluffs along the Gulf of
Mexico, extends 150 to 300 miles to its inland margin at the great
geological fault known as the Balcones Escarpment ; the line of this
escarpment runs from Denison, near the Red River, southward through
Dallas, Waco, Austin, and San Antonio, then westward through Uvalde
to Del Rio at the Rio Grande. Altitudes along the line range from
600 to 1,000 feet.
The Central Plains are an extension of the lower part of the
Western Plains below the Red River to the Pecos River, and from the
Balcones Escarpment northwestward to the "Cap Rock." Altitudes
range from 800 feet on the east to 3,000 feet at the western margins.
There are four major divisions of this central plain: (i) north of the
Colorado River and immediately west of the Balcones Escarpment, a
region of low hills and broad valleys, called the Grand Prairie; (2)
south of the Colorado River and bounded on the east and south by the
Balcones Escarpment, a deeply eroded country of low hills and very
narrow stream valleys fed by limestone springs, called the Edwards
Plateau; (3) the broad plain west of the Grand Prairie; and (4) the
uplift of the Central Mineral Region, a smaller area surrounded by the
other three subregions and consisting of rugged hill country along the
Colorado and its tributary, the Llano River.
The Western High Plains, bounded on the east by the "Cap Rock"
an abrupt escarpment with a zone of broken country below called
"the breaks" extend west to the New Mexico Line, and southward
NATURAL SETTING 9
from the northernmost limit of the Panhandle to the Pecos Valley.
Altitudes along the southern margin are 3,000 feet and at the north
west corner of the Panhandle reach 4,700 feet. These high plains are
in two parts, locally called the Panhandle High Plains, which occupy
all the Texas Panhandle except the extreme eastern tier of its counties,
and the South Plains, below the Palo Duro Canyon and other draws
tributary to the Red River.
In the Panhandle the High Plains are crossed by the deep valley of
the Canadian River. Elsewhere they are a smooth, gently sloping tree
less region, with more or less frequent depressions or sinks locally called
"lakes" which in fact they are after heavy rains. Except for the
Canadian Valley and arroyos such as the Palo Duro and a few lesser
narrow draws leading to the Cimarron on the north and to the Red,
Brazos, and Colorado Rivers on the east, the region drains only to the
local depressions. This Panhandle High Plains region, once thought to
be a desert, was called the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain.
Texas is a State of sharp natural contrasts, of regions having distinct
features abruptly juxtaposed to other features; and, within the broad
divisions, certain natural regions are clearly defined :
The Coastal Prairie, extending inland from 30 to 50 miles, is a
highly productive region which was the scene of early settlement. It
contains such port cities as Galveston, Houston, Texas City, Corpus
Christi, Beaumont, and Port Arthur.
The Timber Belt, bounded on the north by the Coastal Prairie and
extending from the middle part of the State almost to the Red River,
has an area equal to that of Ohio. In this region grow the com
mercially important longleaf, shortleaf and loblolly pines, as well as
numerous hardwoods.
The Rio Grande Plain, which includes the Rio Grande Delta and
the richly fertile Lower Rio Grande Valley, is known chiefly for its
winter gardens and citrus fruit.
The Blacklands, the richest agricultural land in the State and one
of the great cotton producing areas, extends along the inner border of
the Coastal Plain from the Red River southward. Five principal cities
lie within this section: Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco, Austin, and San
Antonio.
The Granite Mountain section of the Central Hilly Region, is com
posed largely of igneous formations and limestone and offers a great
variety of minerals. The granite fields cover 2,500 square miles.
The Central Plains or Central Basin, contain, in McCullough
County, the exact geographical center of Texas. Ranching occupies the
drier region to the west; and most of the agricultural land lies along
the course of the Colorado River and its tributaries.
IO TEXAS
The Western High Plains, part of them the early-discovered Llano
Estacado, form a great tableland from 3,000 to 4,700 feet in elevation,
the southern part of which lately has become a prolific cotton producing
section. Wheat and grain fields occupy most of the northern part in a
region formerly devoted to ranching.
The Edwards Plateau rises abruptly from the Coastal Plain on the
south and occupies the south central portion of the State, with altitudes
from 1,000 to 3,000 feet. The Guadalupe, Comal, San Marcos, Blanco,
Pedernales, Llano, Medina, Frio, Nueces, Concho, San Saba, and
Devil s Rivers, fed by innumerable creeks and springs, wind through
green valleys and picturesque canyons in the limestone hills of this
region, which is devoted to ranching and is filled with recreational
resorts.
Trans-Pecos Texas, a triangular area as large as West Virginia,
lying west of the Pecos River, north and east of the Rio Grande, and
below the south line of New Mexico, is an elevated region of broad
valleys or undrained basins, interspersed with several mountain groups,
with peaks from 6,000 to nearly 9,000 feet. The basin valleys are at
an altitude of 3,500 to 5,000 feet.
The mountain ranges in this most barren and yet most scenically
attractive section of Texas, are part of the southern extension of the
Rockies. Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in the State, has an altitude
of 8,751 feet. The outstanding feature of this region is the Big Bend
(see Tour 23A}. The Davis Mountains district (see Tour 23d) is
less rugged, although altitudes range from 4,000 to 5,000 feet in the
vicinity of Alpine and Fort Davis.
To these natural regions may be added the Valley Lowlands along
the Canadian River in the north, and the Rio Grande in the south, the
latter exceedingly rich agriculturally.
CLIMATE
Texas climate is remarkable for its salubrity. Along the south
coastal regions freezing temperatures are so rare that semitropical citrus
fruits are grown in the Rio Grande Delta, while on the plateaus and
tablelands of the northwest winters are as cold as in central Illinois.
Some of the southern cities, especially San Antonio, are popular winter
resorts, and the southwestern part of the State is noted for its high
proportion of sunshiny days. In this section there are many winter days
when the mercury readings are from 70 F. to 80 F. and spring and
late autumn resemble the northern Indian summer.
In all but the most humid parts of the State the summer heat is
surprisingly bearable, and even in those sections it is usually tempered
NATURAL SETTING II
by Gulf breezes at night. Sunstrokes and heat prostrations are extremely
rare in Texas.
The normal mean temperature for August, as recorded at eight
points which cover every area, is from 75 to 86 ; the normal mean
temperature for January is from 33 to 60. The highest temperature
ever recorded officially in the State was 120 at Seymour, Baylor
County, August 12, 1936; the lowest was 23 below zero, registered at
Tulia, Swisher County, February n, 1899, and at Seminole, in Gaines
County, February 8, 1933.
Along the Sabine River on the east the climate is humid ; the annual
rainfall is 55 inches. Westward the humidity and rainfall decrease
gradually, until the extreme corner at El Paso has only nine inches of
rainfall and a semidesert climate. Rainfall for the State as a whole is
least during the winter months, gradually increasing from February
through May and decreasing on the average through the summer
months, with a heavier normal precipitation in September than in the
other autumn months. Snowfall is light and infrequent for most of the
State, as much because of the dryness of the winter months as their rela
tive warmth. Infrequently, with years of interval, snow falls in south
central Texas. Occasional 1 2-inch snows are experienced in north
central Texas, and at high altitudes of west Texas three-foot snows are
not unknown. The average annual snowfall in the Panhandle is ten
inches.
Native Texans have a saying: "Only fools and strangers predict
weather in Texas." Yet save in one respect and in that respect only
in degree Texas weather is no more uncertain than in many another
American section. The exception is the Texas "norther," which from
autumn to late spring may be experienced in any part of the State.
A norther is a cold, sharp wind which sweeps down across the plains.
Sometimes black clouds appear in the north, and the storm breaks
swiftly with rain or sleet; sometimes there are few or no clouds, and
the first warning on a warm sunny day is a sudden puff of north wind
which quickly rises to a half gale. The mercury responds by dropping
10 or more in as many minutes, and then continues to fall less rapidly
for hours. There are extreme records in south Texas of a drop of
more than 50 in 36 hours. Ordinarily the norther reaches its coldest
point on the second day, and by the fourth day the temperature is likely
to have returned to normal.
Periodic storms, occasionally of hurricane or near-hurricane inten
sity, visit the Gulf Coast. Sea walls and breakwaters have been built
for the protection of property. Tropical hurricanes from the Gulf,
which rarely strike Texas, usually occur in the equinoctial season.
Ample warning of their approach is always given by the United States
Weather Bureau.
12 TEXAS
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY
Long geologic ages ago, Texas was a mass of volcanic rock, pounded
by a mighty ocean and overhung with mists. Through millions of years
the land of the present State was subject to fairly frequent plunges
beneath the primal seas.
In the Paleozoic age, only islands stood where the State now is.
Near the end of this "old era" the mainland came slowly up from the
bottom of the ocean. Toward the east it was low and swampy, and
here grew immense forests destined to produce the coal of the Central
Plains. The strange teeming invertebrate and air-breathing vertebrate
life of that period was to furnish great resources of petroleum and
natural gas. Hot, barren plains were formed to the west, with under
lying deposits of salt, potash, gypsum and sulphur. Thus two of the
State s natural divisions the Central Hilly or Mineral Region, and
the Central Plains were completed during the Paleozoic period.
The land mass was elevated, eroded, and submerged again beneath
the sea in the Mesozoic or middle life period. Millions of shell-bearing
animals lived in these waters, and their shells in time made limy deposits
which today are the basis of the fertility of the Blacklands. The soils
of the Edwards Plateau are also derived from this period. This, the
age of reptiles, left fossil remains of reptile-like birds and other strange
forms of life.
As the Mesozoic era closed, the mountains of western Texas emerged
from the floor of the sea. This mighty movement of the earth was
accompanied by disturbances so great that volcanic activity left an
indelible mark on the west Texas area, and the terrestrial contortions
left great faults or breaks which extend from the vicinity of Del Rio
to the Red River. Through these cracks issued volcanic materials
which are visible south of the Edwards Plateau. At the conclusion of
the Mesozoic period Texas contained three new regions the black land
prairies, the Edwards Plateau, and the western mountains.
Heavily forested swamps now skirted the land mass, and abundant
vegetable and animal life provided for later deposits of petroleum,
natural gas, and lignite. This geological belt extends across the center
of the State from northeast Texas to the Rio Grande.
In the Cenozoic or recent life period the formation of the present-
day Texas was completed by the elevation of the remainder of the
Coastal Plain. This is the newest part of the North American Conti
nent. During this, the age of mammals, vegetation assumed an aspect
now familiar, and even the cold of the Pleistocene or ice age did not
alter the land mass appreciably.
The High Plains were once the site of a vast inland lake. The
NATURAL SETTING 13
deposits of silt laid down in it from the mountains to the west, provided
the basis for its present agricultural development.
During each of the half dozen or more submergences of the State,
deposits were laid down sands, clays, gravels, limy muds, sulphur,
salt, and gypsum. Naturally, many changes have taken place in these
ancient deposits. The oldest sediments have hardened into schist or
slate; limy muds formed coarse marbles. Younger rocks have changed
also; calcareous ooze has become limestone, sands have turned into sand
stone, and gravels into conglomerate. These changes have created vast
mineral wealth.
Along the coast line many interesting examples of past and present
geological changes can be seen. Raised beaches are not uncommon a
short distance from shore. A beach of this kind, 30 feet high, runs
through the city of Corpus Christi.
As the Rocky Mountain system rose, bringing the mountains of
western Texas with it, the crust of the earth was tremendously faulted.
This fault zone in Texas is easily identifiable along US 90 from Del
Rio to San Antonio; here it is visible along a i5O-mile course, in the
Balcones Escarpment. Volcanic action followed the faulting, and
molten materials oozed up through the rocks, and cinder cones and
other formations resulted. One product of this upheaval is the trap
rock or basalt hills occurring near Austin and Uvalde.
Ground water came from the zone faulting, and originated the
springs which supply such rivers as the San Antonio, the San Marcos,
the Comal, and the Guadalupe. The old rivers of the State are the
Canadian, the Red, the Trinity, the Brazos, the Colorado, and the Rio
Grande with its principal tributary, the Pecos. The Red River cut
the Palo Duro Canyon, while the Rio Grande ate its way through
mountains to form the Grand Canyon of the Santa Helena. Ground
water made caverns and stored supplies for future artesian wells. The
great forests that fell into the muddy ooze of remote geologic years
occupied almost every sandy part of the State, conserving rainfall and
preventing erosion.
More than any other agency, marine life of ancient seas furnished
Texas its fertile soils. The shell life of the various geologic ages is
distributed liberally through the entire series of unaltered sedimentary
formations. In the Pennsylvania formations, or "coal measures"-
found in an area northwest and southwest of Fort Worth are traces
of a fossil flora differing entirely from that of the present.
Geological formations in Texas range from those of the Archeozoic
(first life) age through those of Cenozoic periods, and divide the State
into large geologic units. Formations of the Coastal Plain dip toward
the Gulf and are of the Cretaceous (age of reptiles and dinosaurs) and
Cenozoic ages. Since Cretaceous time the Gulf of Mexico has been
14 TEXAS
receiving sediments. The thickness of deposits ranges from 20,000 to
30,000 feet. Underlying much of this region at great depth are salt
beds which have formed salt domes. Oil occurs in these, and also sul
phur, salt, and gypsum.
The Central Hilly or Mineral Region still forms a pivot about
which the rest of the State is built. Formations dip down from it and
spread out like ripples. One of the seven granite shields in the United
States, the Granite Mountain area presents an imposing appearance,
with vast blocks or boulders of granite, sparkling with mica, piled one
upon the other or in solid masses forming entire hills. Many of the
hard rock minerals occur in this region, such as lead, some gold and
copper, graphite, and many of the rare earth minerals.
North of the Central Hilly Region and extending to the Red River
is another distinct geological division called the Wichita Plain. Under
lying formations, chiefly Pennsylvanian (age of amphibians) and Per
mian (a Carboniferous period), consist chiefly of sandstone, shale and
limestone. These formations have extensive petroleum reserves.
The northern and western parts of the Great Plains contain non-
marine recent formations ; while the Edwards Plateau consists of Creta
ceous formations lying on top of those of the Paleozoic age.
Perhaps the most interesting region of the State geologically is that
of the trans-Pecos. In the vicinity of Marathon and in the Solitario
Uplift north of Terlingua are mountains made during the Paleozoic era.
Great plateau areas of lava flows are found in the Davis Moun
tains, in the region between Alpine and Marfa and west of Mount Ord
and the Santiago Mountains and the Sierra del Carmen on the Rio
Grande. The country within the Big Bend is a great trough or syn-
cline of Comanchean (Lower Cretaceous) and Upper Cretaceous rocks
partly covered by lava flow and intruded by igneous rocks.
The oldest exposed rocks in the State are of pre-Cambrian age (all
of geologic time prior to the Paleozoic). Their fossils, with rare excep
tions, have been obliterated. These rocks are found in the Llano Uplift
of the Central Hilly Region, the Van Horn district, and in the Franklin
Mountains near El Paso. Paleozoic rocks are extensively exposed,
chiefly in central, north, and west Texas. The three Mesozoic systems
are found ; Triassic deposits underlie the Great Plains as far south
as the Pecos River; Jurassic rocks are confined to the Malone Moun
tains ; and marine Cretaceous deposits, abounding with fossils, are wide
spread. Nonmarine Cenozoic deposits occur extensively in the western
part of the State, although the principal belt of Cenozoic formations is
that of east and south Texas bordering the Gulf Coast.
Earth movements in Texas continue to be erratic. A good example
of this is found along the coastal area, where some parts of the main
land are slowly sinking and some rising as time works its changes.
Resources and their Conservation
FIRST among the natural resources of Texas is land, the amount
and extent of which has since earliest times given rise to the
word "empire" in connection with the State. In 1777 Padre
Morn* wrote, "A proof of the astonishing fertility of the country is the
multitude of nations which inhabit it." And to protect this great
wealth of land modern conservation methods are being employed.
Soils of Texas range from loose, deep sands to heavy, dark clays,
from yellow to black, from soils made by ancient geological formations
to the alluvial deposits of modern times. The bleak alkali soils of the
western deserts are at the opposite extreme from the rich rolling fields
of the Blacklands.
Soil erosion has damaged millions of acres in Texas, and to offset
these losses the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture maintains (1940), a total of 14 soil conservation
projects, 13 water facilities projects, two land utilization projects, and
28 Civilian Conservation Corps camps to conserve the soil. Supple
menting these are five experiment stations and one nursery, and a
hydrologic and watershed studies station. Cooperating with the Federal
agency is the Extension Department of the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas, which, in addition to aid rendered the Conservation
Service, and experiment stations maintained, distributes literature and
instructions to Texas landowners. The chief office of the Soil Con
servation Service is in Fort Worth.
15
l6 TEXAS
The soils these agencies attempt to conserve are divided into 1 1 main
types. They are:
1. The loose sandy loams or clays of the Coastal Plain.
2. The East Texas Timber area soils.
3. Eastern Cross Timbers soils, and
4. Western Cross Timbers soils, both of which are generally based
upon ancient unconsolidated marine animals and are inclined to be
sandy.
5. The largely calcareous soils of the Rio Grande Plain.
6. The heavy, black soils of the Blacklands.
7. Limestone soils of areas in central and western Texas, including
the Edwards Plateau in which limestone predominates.
8. The non-calcareous soils of the North Central Plains, often
called "the red prairies" because of the color of the land, which is
derived from the weathering of ancient clays, sandstones, and shales.
9. Soils of the High Plains, where the surface is sometimes under
laid with "caliche," a calcareous deposit, and where soils vary from
brown to red, with some clay loams.
10. Soils of the trans-Pecos area, which are largely composed of
the wash from mountains, and often contain minerals that discourage
plant life, although there is some alluvial land along the Rio Grande
and in the eastern section.
11. Residual soils of the Central Hilly or Mineral Region, with a
wide variety of types derived from the weathering of sandstone, granites
and other minerals.
In all these soil divisions various modifications of the general type
are found. More than 500 soil types have been mapped by the Agri
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas.
Five Soil Conservation Service projects in the Panhandle and five
Civilian Conservation Corps camps under supervision of the Soil Con
servation Service are concerned chiefly with wind erosion, and are
cooperating with landowners in making demonstrations in general ero
sion work over a wide area.
The Soil Conservation Service is concerned chiefly with the control
of rainfall water, to minimize erosion of farm and pasture lands, con
serve the water where it falls, and thus also to minimize flood hazards.
The service makes exhaustive studies of lands and their erosion prob
lems, makes maps for the use of the owners, lays off contour lines and
terraces, constructs check dams and takes other preventive measures,
lends farmers equipment to make outlet ditches, and provides land
owners with facilities for reforestation work, in return for which the
landowners follow an approved method of cropping and keep a simple
record of the erosion experiments.
In 1939 there were 5,300 farms with a total acreage of 1,400,000
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION IJ
under the program and, in addition, more than 3,000,000 trees and
shrubs had been planted.
Soil conservation had been confined to efforts of counties and of
the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas experiment stations
until 1933, when the first large Federal project was started at Lindale.
The services of the Civilian Conservation Corps were enlisted when
soil conservation projects became popular.
Annual soil losses from the watershed of the Brazos River alone
total 104,250,000 tons, and losses in other sections have been propor
tionate. Because of the enormous savings made possible both in land
and in crops, a majority of landowners in the districts served by Soil
Conservation Service stations have adopted the program. To those
not residing in the regions served by the Federal projects, free literature
and advice are given.
Reclamation of land by means of irrigation is another major soil
conservation method. Under the Federal Reclamation Act many irriga
tion projects have been built or are contemplated through financing by
State irrigation districts, and there is a major Federal reclamation proj
ect on the Rio Grande.
WATER
The rivers of Texas annually discharge 36,300,000 acre-feet of
water into the Gulf of Mexico. Since a large proportion of this flow,
however, comes from irregular floods, the storage of water is particularly
important.
In the west, especially in the southwest, where water is the most
coveted and essential resource because its supply is limited, control and
regulation are vitally necessary.
The census of 1930 showed that 798,291 acres were watered by
irrigation projects in Texas. In 1939 there were 98 levee districts in
the State, representing an estimated $21,181,568.39 bonded investment,
with 699.57 miles of levees. Drainage projects number 74, and the
ditches measure 2,500 miles, serving 3,000,599 acres. Great dams and
artificial lakes have been built to conserve land and water, to furnish
power and an uncontaminated water supply both for human consump
tion and agricultural use, and to facilitate flood control.
The underground water supplies of Texas are among its valued
natural resources. In the long run they may prove to be the greatest
underground resource, because the ground waters are perennially replen
ished by rainfall and seepage from streams on outcrops of the water
bearing formations and, if properly protected, they should last indefi
nitely. About 75 per cent of the people depend on wells and springs
for water, the industrial needs are supplied largely from wells, and
i TEXAS
hundreds of thousands of acres are irrigated with well water. Many
of the larger communities including the cities of San Antonio, Houston,
Galveston and El Paso get their entire water supply from artesian wells.
Lack of coordination in the past has slowed extensive conservation
of water resources in Texas, but with the aid of Federal funds and in
conjunction with Federal planning, many projects, in 1940, are either
under construction or are contemplated.
The Rio Grande Federal Irrigation Project has been developed,
constructed, and operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation
under contract with the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (New
Mexico) and with the El Paso County water improvement organiza
tion. For the irrigation of the 67,000 acres served, below El Paso,
by the impounded waters of the Rio Grande, 650 miles of canals and
laterals have been constructed. The total area subject to irrigation is
155,000 acres.
The ninth longest river in the Western Hemisphere, the Rio Grande
also waters the Lower Valley. The drainage area of this river totals
48,475 square miles, including 24,900 square miles drained by the
tributary Pecos. Its flow is very erratic, varying from slight flow to
floods in excess of 600,000 cubic feet a second. Because of both the flood
damage and the increasing demands for irrigation, several large projects
to conserve the floodwater are in prospect. The other major rivers, with
few exceptions, have either been harnessed or are being studied by State
and Federal engineers.
Flowing for 640 miles through or along the boundary of Texas, the
Red River has two completed flood control and irrigation projects, the
larger being Lake Kemp near Wichita Falls. Still larger would be
the proposed Red River Flood Control and Power Project with a water
surface of 200,000 acres.
Three Federal projects are in prospect for the Sabine, the third
longest river in Texas. The Neches River, 250 miles long, irrigates
many rice fields. The Rockland Project is the largest projected devel
opment on the Neches. The 9,740 square miles of the watershed of
the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle may, under a recently
adopted program, receive three reservoirs.
The Trinity basin extends for more than 450 miles, and along its
course is the largest industrial development bordering any Texas stream.
Included among the seven completed projects are Lake Bridgeport, Lake
Dallas and White Rock Lake reservoir near Dallas, and Eagle Moun
tain Lake and Lake Worth near Fort Worth. A number of new
projects have been recommended on this stream, including one to make
the river navigable to Fort Worth and Dallas.
The Brazos, with a flow of more than 5,000,000 acre-feet a year,
has presented one of the most difficult flood control problems, as flood-
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 19
water descends rapidly from its upper reaches and from its larger tribu
taries into a slow-moving meandering stream in the coastal area. The
Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District has adopted a
$30,000,000 program, of which one project has been launched, that of
the $4,500,000 Possum Kingdom Dam in Palo Pinto County. Thirteen
other new projects are planned on the Brazos. Lake Cisco was com
pleted in 1924. Privately owned or civic projects include Lake Waco,
Lake Abilene, Lake Sweetwater, and six others. The total lake area
in the Brazos River water conservation system, when completed, will
cover 153,100 acres, with recreation and game conservation an important
secondary consideration.
The Colorado has almost completed an ambitious program, for
which an expenditure of $51,630,000 has been planned by the Colorado
River Authority. Three of the four large dams that will harness the
flow and periodic floods of the lower Colorado have been finished. The
largest of these is Buchanan Dam (formerly Hamilton Dam) in Burnet
and Llano Counties. Construction of the major Marshall Ford Dam
a few miles above Austin is complete to the first stage, and an addi
tional allotment has been granted for raising this dam for flood control
purposes. The reconstruction of the Tom Miller Dam and the building
of the Roy Inks Dam are completed. The Upper Colorado River
Authority is sponsoring a proposed reservoir near Bronte in Coke
County, for irrigating a large acreage. The reservoir on tributaries of
the Colorado, Lake Brownwood in Brown County, is of importance.
In the Edwards Plateau many streams originate from a vast under
ground water supply. Also derived from this source are Barton Springs,
San Marcos Springs, Comal Springs, the San Antonio River and San
Pedro Springs, and others. Seven Hundred Springs, on the South Llano
River, are spectacular (see Tour 16d).
The largest river of the spring-fed group is the Guadalupe, which
because of its steady flow has led in the creation of power. Twenty-five
privately owned dams and power plants exist on the Guadalupe, and
its tributary, the San Marcos. A large reservoir on Plum Creek is
planned in Caldwell County. The Medina Dam near San Antonio,
on the Medina River, pioneer storage project of magnitude, was built
for irrigation, and Olmos Dam in San Antonio is one of the outstanding
flood control measures. Two power dams have been built on Devil s
River. On the Pecos River is Red Bluff Reservoir, of 285,000 acre-feet
capacity.
Lake Corpus Christi is the only large completed project on the
Nueces River, although 16 major projects are in prospect. Under these
plans, waters of the tributary Frio and Atascosa Rivers, as well as those
of the Nueces, would be used to irrigate several hundred thousand
acres.
2O TEXAS
Devil s River and the Pecos contribute to the flow of the Rio
Grande. Other spring-fed rivers are the Pedernales, the Llano, the
San Saba, and the South Concho, which are tributaries of the Colorado.
The great water conservation program, as well as the supply itself,
is watched constantly by the State Board of Water Engineers, which
enforces necessary laws and makes recommendations.
MINERALS
The greater part of the stored wealth which makes Texas one of
the leading States in mineral resources is conveyed through pipes. Great
oil fields have made scores of El Dorados in the State, and natural gas,
sulphur, and salt are found in enormous quantities.
Unquestioned supremacy has been maintained for a number of years
in the production of petroleum (see Industry, Commerce and Labor).
Oil reserves underlying the great known fields were estimated in 1939
at approximately nine and a half billion barrels, or 54.46 per cent of
the known petroleum reserves of the United States. The East Texas
Oil Field is the largest in existence, with approximately 25,000 wells.
Production from Texas fields in 1938 was estimated at 468,716,899
barrels, or 39.95 per cent of the oil produced in the United States, and
about 25 per cent of the output of the whole world. There are seven
distinct large producing areas: the North Texas, Central Texas, Gulf
Coast, West Texas, Balcones Fault, South Texas, and East Texas Fields
containing more than 100 known reservoirs of oil.
Natural gas is another great resource in which Texas leads both
in production and reserves. The output for 1937 totaled 854,561,000,-
ooo (billion) cubic feet, part of which was handled by 79 gasoline
plants and 39 carbon black plants, while 203,315,000,000 (billion)
cubic feet of gas were conveyed to other States by means of pipe lines.
The Panhandle gas field, underlying almost all of five counties, is the
largest known natural gas reservoir in the world. From this area is
obtained a large part of the Nation s supply of helium. Pipe lines con
vey natural gas from Texas to cities in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming,
Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and even to Mexico.
The waste of natural gas almost equals production, although early
conservation laws were passed; the overproduction of oil and waste of
natural gas have led to stringent measures, enforced by the State Rail
road Commission as rigorously as possible in the face of much opposition.
The proration of oil and gas was obtained only after National Guard
troops were called to enforce martial law in the East Texas Oil Field
in 1931. Under authority since voted by the legislature, the commission
decides the output for each of ten proration districts and the allowed
production for each field and for each well, the decisions being based
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 21
upon information submitted monthly by the oil companies. No person
or firm may legally purchase, produce, or transport oil or gas without
a permit from the commission. All other minerals are unrestricted,
and subject to no special conservation laws.
Sulphur, the second greatest mineral resource, is found in honey
comb limestone formations, often occurring in salt domes on the Gulf
Coastal Plain. Mines extend along the coast, beginning at Freeport.
A large undeveloped deposit is in the Toyah basin in the trans-Pecos
region. Texas produces approximately 75 per cent of the total sulphur
supply of the United States.
While conquistador -es sought in vain the mythical gold of Texas,
humble peons of the Rio Grande plains were hauling salt through the
wilderness to Spanish ships which lay off Padre Island. Later the great
salt lakes north of Van Horn were the basis of the Salt War (see Tour
19f). Salt domes are found on the Coastal Plain and surface deposits
on the western plains. The greatest developed production is through
the Southern Alkali Corporation Plant in Corpus Christi, where raw
materials are piped from domes in Duval County; and from deposits
at Grand Saline in Van Zandt County and in the vicinity of Palestine.
Lignite and coal, although largely undeveloped, are two of the
State s greatest mineral resources. The known coal beds have an esti
mated store of eight billion tons and extend over north central and
middle west Texas. Production has ceased because of the present
abundance of cheaper oil and gas as fuel, but these minerals constitute
an enormous fuel reserve. Lignite beds cover approximately 60,000
square miles, extending from Laredo to Texarkana, the reserve being
estimated at 30 billion tons.
Important iron deposits in northeast Texas exist in parts of 19
counties and cover an area of approximately 1,000 square miles. Early
development of iron furnaces was abandoned because of unfavorable fuel
and transportation conditions at the time.
With the exception of oil, the greatest variety of minerals is found
in the Central Hilly or Mineral Region and in the trans-Pecos area.
Non-ferrous metal reserves in the State are limited largely to silver
and quicksilver. Extensive quicksilver deposits are found near Terlin-
gua in the Big Bend.
Silver is found principally near Shafter, where a large mine in the
Chinati Mountains has produced steadily for a half century. Copper
is found in the western and central mountains, also in the Permian
basin of the north central area, but not in large quantities. Gold, also
in small amounts, is found in western and central mountains. Unde
veloped deposits of lead, manganese, zinc, tin, and other metals occur.
Large deposits of marble, limestone, graphite, granite, asphalt, gyp
sum, fuller s earth, and clay exist. There are whole mountains of
22 TEXAS
granite (see Tour 9b). Limestones form a broad belt from the Red
River to the Rio Grande, and across the north central area. Gypsum
deposits of the central plains and the trans-Pecos section are extensively
developed. Sand, gravel, and silica are abundant. The largest asphal-
tic rock deposits are near Uvalde.
From the Panhandle southward into the Pecos region commercial
deposits of potash occur in a great underlying bed of rock salt, which
is the largest in the world. Titanium, tungsten, and uranium are
found in southwestern Texas. Mineral waters are widely distributed.
A dozen or more other minerals exist in unimportant quantities. A few
of the semiprecious stones are found, and fresh-water pearls.
PLANTS
Variety in plant life is naturally an outstanding characteristic of a
State having so many changes in climate, soil, topography, and rainfall.
From the twisted salt cedars of the Gulf Coast to the lonely desert
reaches of ocotillo and sotol of the west, through the great zone of
wild flowers which annually carpet hundreds of square miles, Texas
is a vast botanical exposition. About 4,000 different wild flowers grow
in the State, and there are more than 12,000,000 acres of commercial
forests, 550 kinds of grasses, and exactly 100 varieties of cactus.
From March until the end of October, with the exception of July,
the State, except in rare years of exceeding drought, is covered with
blooms. Texas in the wild-flower months means landscapes done in
brilliant colors: bluebonnets spreading widely like deep cerulean pools,
mountain pinks flaming on the hillsides, sunflowers lining country roads,
daisies lying like spots of melting snow on the prairies.
In 1824 Dr. Luis Berlandier, a French botanist, made the first
large botanical collection from the State and sent it to Paris. The
strange Texas plants interested Thomas Drummond, an Englishman,
who explored the region near Galveston in 1833-34. He was followed
in 1836 by Ferdinand J. Lindheimer, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, the
first great Texas botanist.
Although there are definite plant zones in Texas, modern agencies,
such as irrigation, have widely distributed the plants of each section
beyond their original boundaries.
The region of the tall forests, or the humid division of the lower
Sonoran Zone, is in east Texas, where the longleaf, shortleaf, and lob
lolly pines grow. The low forest area (including the Eastern and
Western Cross Timbers) is west of the tall forests, and embraces all
the central part of the State and the south section of the Gulf Coast,
as well as parts of west and southwest Texas. This area, known as
the lower Sonoran Zone of the Austral or Southern plant belt, is a
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 23
region of postoak and blackjack oak, of mesquite, and of semitropical
flora, with tall grasses prevailing. The upper Sonoran Zone of the
Austral covers the Central Plains, one arm extending south into Kerr
County. It includes the cedar brakes of the Edwards Plateau, and is
generally a treeless section of short grass. The Transition Zone, found
in the mountains which reach or exceed 6,000 feet, is characterized by
vegetation typical of the Rocky Mountains. The Canadian plant zone
is found in the Davis and Guadalupe Mountains. The Pecos River
Valley and the Rio Grande Valley south to about Eagle Pass are known
as the extreme arid region of the lower Sonoran Zone. Here about
50 per cent of the soil is barren, and such plants as the creosote bush
and yucca predominate. The semi-arid region of the State is largely
composed of plains covered by mesquite, overgrown in spots with thorny
types of bush such as catclaw, which, usually combined with cacti, is
known by the Mexican name of chaparral (thick brush). Chaparral
early necessitated the wearing by cowboys of leather chaparreras, com
monly called "chaps." The arid and semi-arid regions have perhaps
the most sharply defined vegetation, although the prairies are the home
of the wild flowers, and the southern extremities of the State have
tropical flora.
The rain lily, retama, desert willow, and cenizo invariably bloom
after rains. In some years bluebonnets appear in February, yet if rains
are unseasonal they may scarcely bloom at all.
The best bluebonnet month is March, and the largest bluebonnet
fields are in the vicinity of San Antonio, Austin and the counties between
San Antonio and Houston, between San Antonio and Corpus Christi,
and between Cuero and the coast. The bluebonnet was first called
buffalo clover, wolfflower, and el cone jo (the rabbit) because of the
white tip s resemblance to a rabbit s tail; but when women from other
parts of the United States began to live in Texas, its similarity in
shape to a sunbonnet gained it the new name. In many localities laws
protect the plant; in others it is conserved by annual gathering of the
seeds. These and other native Texas wild flower seeds can be bought
at the Witte Memorial Museum in San Antonio and elsewhere. The
bluebonnet was adopted as the State flower in 1901.
One of the greatest natural resources of the State is its forests,
the east Texas timber belt alone covering 11,000,000 acres. Trees rep
resentative of both the Atlantic and the Pacific slopes are found in
Texas, including, in the Guadalupe, Chisos, and Davis Mountains,
varieties of Pacific coast oak, pine, fir, and juniper. There are in the
State approximately 35,000,000 acres in forests, including pine and
hardwoods, postoak, cedar brakes and the various kinds of trees of the
East and West Cross Timbers.
A major part of the plant conservation program of Texas is refor-
24 TEXAS
estation and the creation and maintenance of large State and national
forest reserves and parks. Four national forests, with a total area of
approximately 1,714,000 acres, are in the heart of the east Texas timber
belt: Sam Houston National Forest, Davy Crockett National Forest,
the Angelina National Forest, and the Sabine National Forest. They
are administered by the Forest Service, United States Department of
Agriculture, and each unit is directly under the care of a forest ranger.
Five State forests contain a total of 6,410 acres, much of the area
devoted to research projects. Twelve Civilian Conservation Corps
camps, with about 3,000 workers, assist in the care of trees in Texas
forest regions. In 1935-36 a total of 3,650,000 seedlings were planted,
and since that time 10,000 to 15,000 acres have been replanted annually.
The Texas Forest Service patrols about 11,000,000 acres of pine forests,
and maintains an effective fire-fighting force. Experiments and demon
strations in the conservation and erosion programs of the State are con
ducted in all State and national forests.
The pine is the most important tree, commercially, in Texas. The
oak, second in importance, is found in more than 50 varieties, and the
live oak is the monarch of the Texas low forests. The cypress of the
eastern river courses, growing to heights of 150 feet or more, is the
patriarch of native trees, going back to the time of the dinosaur. The
mesquite, most common tree in southwest and central Texas, is valuable
because in some localities it provides the only shade and the only fuel.
Texas grasses include about half of the 1,100 or 1,200 kinds found
in the United States. As a commercial crop they have little value, but
as an aid against erosion and the basis of the cattle industry, their value
is incalculable.
Although cactus reaches its greatest development in arid and semi-
arid regions of the State, it is found from tidewater to the highest peak.
From central Texas to the trans-Pecos cactus is most abundant and
diversified. The Big Bend area is the best hunting ground for col
lectors. Here rare varieties include the peyote or "dry whiskey," still
sought by certain Indians for their ceremonials; and the lechugilla and
sotol, which served in prehistoric times as the chief weaving material
of the cave dwellers, are still used in making twine and other products.
The maguey, also called the American aloe or century plant, which
blooms about every 20 years, is widely distributed. Yuccas are the
showiest of the semi-arid plants, growing throughout south and south
west Texas. The guayule, or rubber plant, is found in the western
part of the State, and the candelilla, or wax plant, in the Big Bend.
A brilliant wild flower is the verbena, which often covers wide areas
with blooms. Phlox grows abundantly, as do primroses of many colors
and sizes. Indian paintbrush and Indian blanket are known in other
localities as Indian pink or paintcup. The daisy family is well repre-
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 25
sented, as are a large number of the composites. The milkweed with
its white flowers, used by Mexicans to cure ringworm and rattlesnake
bite, is perhaps the best known Texas weed, although the loco (crazy)
weed is widely distributed.
Water plants include the lotus, or waterlily, and the water hyacinth.
The latter grows so profusely in many streams and bayous of east Texas
that it is considered a nuisance.
Wild fruits and berries cover a wide variety, from the blackberry
and dewberry to the huckleberry of east Texas. Wild grapes are used
for the making of wines and jellies, the mustang, common to most sec
tions, being the largest producer.
Conservation of native plants, the objective of many Texas clubs
and societies, is part of the general soil erosion program, and is con
ducted by the Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service, and by the
State Park Department. The State park system (1940) consists of
32 parks covering a total of 322,000 acres, and many of these are under
the joint control or supervision of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Among the regions of especial botanical interest are the Big Thicket
in east Texas, a tangle of vines, plants, and shrubs, and Palmetto State
Park in Gonzales County, a conservation area which presents a sub
tropical scene in a semi-arid setting. The Davis Mountain State Park
near Fort Davis and the proposed Big Bend National Park are huge
conservation areas of natural arid and semi-arid growth. Buescher
State Park near Bastrop covers 4,000 acres of pine trees.
ANIMALS
Once a factor in the business of empire building in Texas, the wild
life of the State still flourishes wherever civilization permits. An aston
ishing number of game animals exists, either in protected preserves or
in the less populated regions, and the smaller mammals continue abun
dant. Arid sections hold in their rocks and sands more reptiles than
can be found in almost any other part of the Nation. Furthermore,
Texas lies directly in the path of the migratory birds from the eastern
and western States, Canada, and Alaska. Millions of insects furnish
food for the birds and variety for the naturalist. From the streams and
bays of the State ninety million pounds of fish have been sold in the
last quarter-century.
Texas was belated in enacting game laws. However, because of
almost totally uninhabited sections in the State, with ideal climatic con
ditions, and with natural food plentiful, wildlife in Texas is still as
varied as the area it covers.
There are several large natural regions where game abounds. The
east Texas timber belt, especially in the national forests, is a natural
26 TEXAS
game preserve, where are found deer, bobcats, and many of the smaller
animals, also a wide variety of birds. On the Edwards Plateau, where
the country is broken, well-watered, and sparsely inhabited, deer and
wild turkeys abound, and wolves, panthers, small animals, and birds
are plentiful. The coastal region has sheltered bays and inlets which
are natural wildfowl preserves, and some of the islands, notably those
between the mainland and St. Joseph s and Padre Islands, are the breed
ing and nesting grounds of waterfowl. The trans-Pecos region with its
huge State and proposed national parks is one of the largest natural
game preserves in the United States, with several million acres under
the protection of Federal and State game wardens. The Guadalupe
Mountains furnish another ideal wildlife region, and elk have been
reintroduced there in protected areas. The Palo Pinto Mountain sec
tion is another region where game thrives.
Many of the wild creatures of early times have vanished or are
almost extinct. The great buffalo herds, once estimated at 60,000,000
head in Texas, have dwindled to a few animals, principally the small
herd on the Goodnight Ranch in the Panhandle. Texas bighorns, the
mountain sheep which throve in the trans-Pecos, are a handful fostered
by the game wardens of the Guadalupe Mountains. Pronghorn ante
lopes, depleted to not more than 2,000 head, are sometimes seen on the
game preserves of western and south central Texas.
However, many of the wild animals that the pioneers hunted remain.
Texas white-tailed deer have a wide range in south and central parts
of the State. Mexican mule or black-tailed deer are found in the Pecos
River and Big Bend areas. The small Sonora deer are in the Chisos
Mountains. On the northern edge of the Panhandle is the Plains
white-tailed kind, and a variety believed to be another branch of the
true white-tailed deer exists in extreme eastern Texas.
Black bears still live in the mountains of western Texas and in the
thickets of the southeast. Wild turkeys are plentiful in certain sections,
chiefly in the hilly region of Kimble, Kendall, Kerr, and Gillespie
Counties and in central north Texas.
Mountain lions, or cougars, the great enemy of stockmen who an
nually lose cattle, sheep, goats, and horses to these wary killers, are
found in the western mountains and hills. These cats, called panthers
in the East, grow to great size in Texas, sometimes measuring seven
or eight feet. The jaguarundi, a cat with a long body and tail and
short legs, stalks in the underbrush along the Rio Grande. The small
Texas bobcat is found in eastern and southern Texas and the plateau
bobcat on the Central Plains and western mountains. The ocelot, also
called the tiger-cat, is found in the brush of the Rio Grande. The
muskhog or collared peccary, a vicious wild hog locally called javelina,
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION 27
is numerous from the Edwards Plateau to the Rio Grande, and also in
the Big Bend.
The coyote is still found in almost every part of the State. Often
he ventures upon the streets of small towns at night. This animal, the
most numerous and pestiferous of the wolf family in Texas, is found
in six varieties. Coyotes are so destructive to livestock that they are
hunted by clubs of ranchmen and farmers (see Tour 13a). The United
States Biological Survey helps to exterminate this and other animal
pests, including rodents. The gray wolf, or lobo, once a menace on
the plains, is extinct.
Texas fur-bearing animals include the red fox, the Florida gray fox,
the Swift or Kit fox, the Arizona gray fox, the opossum (three vari
eties), the raccoon (two varieties), the Mexican badger, the skunk
(eight varieties), the large brown mink, one kind of muskrat, two
varieties of beavers, and a scant number of east Texas otters. Fox
hunting is an east Texas sport.
Texas contains three kinds of jack rabbits, five varieties of small
cottontail rabbits, a large mountain cottontail rabbit, and two kinds of
marsh rabbits. Prairie dogs have interesting "towns" on the western
plains. One of the curious native animals, found over a large part of
the State, especially in the hilly regions, is the armadillo, an odd shell-
covered creature the size of a large opossum, the ridged shell or armor
of which is often used for making baskets. One of the armadillo s
peculiarities is that all the young in each litter are of the same sex.
Notable in the rodent family is the Texas cotton rat of the eastern
part of the State and the Rhoads cotton mouse of east Texas, which
destroy cotton plants, and the rice rats, with which rice growers are
said to "raise rice on shares."
Animals that live in trees include eight varieties of squirrels. Of
especial interest is the east Texas flying squirrel, a timid creature which
spreads its "wings," lateral folds of skin extending from its forelegs
to its hindlegs, and sails from branch to branch remarkably like a bird.
This animal is found from the Guadalupe River east to the Louisiana
border.
Within its boundaries the State has three distinct types of bird life,
besides the birds that cross the Rio Grande from Mexico and are in
no other area of the United States. Nearly 700 different varieties of
birds have been found in Texas. Migratory birds cross the State each
year, and many spend the winter. Ducks and geese enter with the first
cold weather, and many remain. Texas is the winter home of 22 vari
eties of ducks, eight of which breed here the black-bellied tree duck,
mottled duck, Mallard, blue-winged and cinnamon teal, shoveller, wood
duck, and ruddy duck. Six varieties of geese, including brant, are
among the visitors.
28 TEXAS
The Texas bobwhite, the blue or Arizona scaled quail, Gambel s
quail, and Mearns quail are found in western and southwestern Texas.
Doves are numerous and widely distributed. There are two varieties
of grouse or prairie chicken, one in west Texas and the Panhandle,
and the Attwater variety (found nowhere else in the United States)
in southeast Texas. The chachalaca, often called the Mexican pheasant,
found in no other part of the United States, lives in the chaparral
thickets along the Rio Grande.
The road runner or ground cuckoo, also locally called the chaparral
bird, "Texas bird of paradise," and paisano, found over the entire
middle and western parts of the State, is the clown of the highways.
With plumage comically ruffled, this large long-legged bird runs swiftly
along the ground instead of flying, and tries to race ahead of auto
mobiles.
The State bird, the sweet-singing mockingbird, is found in two vari
eties. It is unlawful to kill or capture one.
Texas has all four of the deadly snakes found in the United States.
Of the seven varieties of rattlesnakes, the best known is the western
diamondback, which sometimes attains a length of nine feet. Along the
rivers and lakes are found moccasins or "cottonrnouths," and in eastern
and central Texas, copperheads. The coral snake is widely distributed.
Texas has about one-third of all the harmless varieties of snakes found
in the United States.
The best-known Texas lizard is the horned toad, with a scaly body
and tail and small horns. A symbol of the West, this little creature
is often mounted and sold to tourists.
Alligators are found in the swamps and rivers of east Texas, and
often attain great size.
In Texas streams and coastal waters are found 230 kinds of fish,
1 20 of which are fresh-water varieties. Streams of the Coastal Plain
offer the greatest variety of fresh-water fish, of which the favorite is
the large-mouthed black bass.
Since 1917 the fish supply of Texas waters has declined, due pri
marily to ruthless fishing methods. In 1929 all littoral waters were
closed to drag seines. Certain areas are policed during the spawning
season. Laws designed to prohibit pollution of streams by refineries,
city sewage, and other wastes, further protect the fish. Thirteen large
hatcheries, ten State and three Federal, are in Texas ; from these many
lakes, reservoirs, and streams are kept stocked with game fish. The
fishing laws are rigorously enforced. A marine biological laboratory
has been established at Rockport, for the study of conservation methods.
In all matters of conservation of wildlife, the State, aided by Federal
agencies such as the Forest Service, is conducting a comprehensive
program through the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission.
3&&lt;<K&^^^
History
O Path of the North! Now the old giants are gone we little men
live where heroes once walked the inviolate earth
Inscription with murals on opposite page, in the
Post Office at El Paso (which once was El Paso
del Norte The Pass of the North from Mexico).
COXQt EST
Tom "L
MURALS IN POST OFFICE. Kl. PASO
Tom Lea
THE SETTLE!
STKPHKN F ATSTIN
Steel ennravins of a portrait (painter unknown) in State Capitol Senate Chamber
mm*
SAM HOUSTON
John Klliot Jenkins from photograph made in 1X62
I
HK A I. A MO, SAN ANTONIO
Ehrood M . Payne
SAN JACINTH MEMORIAL, SAN JACINTO STATE PARK, NEAR HOUS
HOUSTON S HOMK. HINTSN ILLK
THK U. S. ARMY EXPERIMENTS WITH CAMKLS (c. 1856)
PIONEER PLAZA, KL PASO (
OLD FORT DAVIS (c. 1885)
THK Ql AI>kANGLK THROIK1H A SALLY PORT, FORT SAM HOUSTON
KX -SLAVIC
WITH HKI.I) HORN.
NKAR MARSHALL
RESOURCES AND THEIR CONSERVATION
29
Creation of game sanctuaries in almost every locality was begun in
1925, and in 1939 there were approximately two million acres under
the active protection of game wardens, in 40 national or State game
preserves. There are also some 800 private preserves. Added to
policed game sanctuaries are hundreds of farms and ranches where
hunters pay fees to the owners, and where hunting is carefully regu
lated. Game laws are stringently enforced. Many counties have game
laws of their own to protect certain species. Every State and national
park is a game preserve. The State has facilities for the propagation
of certain species threatened with extinction, notably quail. In large
preserves, such as that of the proposed Big Bend National Park, animals
almost or entirely extinct locally are being reintroduced.
First Americans
TRACEABLE along a trail of scattered and sometimes buried
remains, the Indian and his predecessor, the man of antiquity,
today survive in Texas in the objects they left behind. Only
one reservation contains a remnant of the red hosts that once held the
area of present-day Texas.
Just when ancient man first migrated to this part of the Southwest
is purely a matter of conjecture, and must so remain until future dis
coveries throw further light on his origin. That man did live in Texas
thousands of years ago has been established. That he lived in Texas
even other thousands of years before the most remote date now accepted
as his earliest known existence is believed by some archeologists.
The earliest definite trace of human life in Texas is associated with
a period perhaps 15,000 years ago when the North American Con
tinent was cold and a great sheet of ice covered the northern part of
what is now the United States. A hunter killed a musk ox near the
site of the present town of Colorado. Artifacts associated with the
bones of that early kill have been discovered by Nelson J. Vaughn,
assistant curator, Colorado Museum of Natural History, and are de
scribed in Evidence of Early Man in North America, by Edgar B.
Howard, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1935.
The earliest known type of Texan has been classed by certain mod
ern scientists as the Folsom man, but he remains a very dim figure in
30
FIRST AMERICANS 31
the haze of mystery that envelops human advent and development here.
Not only are his forbears a mystery, but equally so his descendants for
thousands of years thereafter.
Some hundreds or possibly thousands of years ago a group called
West Texas Cave Dwellers, who were possibly akin to the Basket
Makers of New Mexico and Arizona, left behind articles of daily use,
in burying places and in layer after layer of debris in dry cave shelters,
and these remains are the foundation of all modern knowledge of their
existence and habits. The members of this prehistoric group were long
headed (dolichocephalic), short of stature, slightly built, and had dark
brown to black hair. The exact age of the relics of these people in
the caves of the Big Bend area has not been determined, but by some
archeologists is believed to be ancient.
Nothing has been found to throw positive light on the mystery of
what finally became of the West Texas Cave Dwellers. Apparently
they declined and died as a group in the dry cave shelters of the trans-
Pecos area, or in northern Mexico.
That the West Texas Cave Dweller had developed a fairly high
degree of culture is evident from the artifacts discovered in his cave
shelters. Some of his net bags are of the same appearance and style
as those produced commercially today, and virtually all his textiles and
articles made of cordage are of unusual workmanship. Pipes, made of
sections of reeds, indicate that he may have been one of the world s first
smokers.
So far as is known, the West Texas Cave Dweller had no written
language, but many pictographs a picture or series of pictures repre
senting an idea in various states of preservation, are found on the
walls of caves and rock shelters. These also exist throughout southwest
Texas; they vary in size, from tiny paintings no more than two inches
in length and height, to others eight feet in height, with one group 17
feet long.
Petroglyphs, etched into rock walls, while not as numerous as picto
graphs, are found in the same vicinities. At one point near Shumla
an expanse of limestone covering an area of approximately an acre is
entirely covered with deep rock carvings.
There is some evidence that one group of the people of the late
Basket Maker culture, or of the Cave Dwellers, migrated into central
Texas. The prehistoric man of this part of the State left an abundance
of bone, shell, and flint implements, but the heavy rainfall of that terri
tory and the open and exposed condition of the mounds made the preser
vation of perishable objects, such as matting, skins, and wood, virtually
impossible, and thus destroyed whatever proof there might have been
of his kinship to the trans-Pecos people. It is certain, however, that
he was highly skilled in the working of flint.
32 TEXAS
When the first Europeans reached the wilderness that was later
named Texas, they found numerous aboriginal groups. From the north
and west had come a type reminiscent of Pueblo culture perhaps a
southern culture of the sort found in the Playas regions of northern
Chihuahua and southern New Mexico whose habits were in strong
contrast with those of the non-Pueblo people. They irrigated and
cultivated the soil, and lived in adobe houses. Their center of culture
was along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of El Paso.
One of the agricultural tribes settled on the banks of the Canadian
River, in the Texas Panhandle, where the settlement seems to have
flourished for a considerable period, and where stone slabs placed on
edge were used for wall foundations. Driven out by the Apaches, they
left behind the ruins of their villages and a wealth of artifacts of many
kinds. Inquisitive cowboys and later amateur collectors carried away
the greater part of these remains.
The Caddoes, whose culture was similar to that of the Mound
Builders of the Mississippi Valley, invaded the eastern and northeastern
parts of Texas. Although their mounds do not compare in size with
those found in Wisconsin or Ohio, they possibly represent the south
western frontier of the mound builder empire.
They lived over a vast area, extending from the piney woods to
the Gulf and westward to middle west Texas. The Caddoes might
be called the original "Texans" (see Southwestern Empire). They
were a friendly people, living in semipermanent villages. It was among
these Indians that the Franciscans established their missions in east
Texas. The Caddoes included 12 different tribes; they fled Texas in
the 1 850*5, and there are left today on reservations few of the once-
powerful Caddoan stock.
Another of the larger groups included the Apaches, a ferocious
people. The Lipan group of this tribe made murderous raids, from
which they retreated as swiftly as they had come, into their fastnesses
in the Edwards Plateau. Not only was there conflict between the
Apaches and the whites, but also between the Apaches and the Coman-
ches, until, pressed on the north by both whites and Comanches, the
Apaches gradually retired westward and southward, many retreating
below the Rio Grande.
But it was the Comanches who caused the settlers the most trouble.
They were nomadic people, excellent horsemen, and their specialty was
sweeping raids upon defenseless settlers, then a ride back to the limitless
plains where they could not be tracked. They continued their depreda
tions until 1875 when they were confined to reservations.
On the Texas coast were the Karankawas and the Attacapas, fish
eaters. The Karankawas left numerous kitchen middens in which
hacked human bones are found, indicating that they were cannibals.
FIRST AMERICANS 33
However, Cabeza de Vaca, who lived among them in the early sixteenth
century, pictured them as tender-hearted folk, who, seeing the terrible
plight of the wanderers "sat among the white men howling like brutes
over our misfortunes." If, at that time, they were a kindly tribe, they
later gave the Spaniards great trouble and still later were hostile toward
the colonists. After a raid on a settlement on the Guadalupe River
in 1844 they fled; some of them went to Mexico, and the remainder
sought refuge on Padre Island.
Below San Antonio and extending south and east across the Rio
Grande were the Coahuiltecans, a people weak in warfare, and among
whom the Franciscans made their first converts.
Living in central Texas were the Tonkawas. They were hostile
toward other tribes, though friendly to the white settlers. In 1855
the Tonkawas were moved to a reservation, and two years later a large
number were killed by other Indians.
The greater part of the trans-Pecos region was occupied by the
Mescalero Apaches, perhaps the most consistently warlike and savage
of the Texas Indians.
As settlement pushed in from the Atlantic coast, more tribes, driven
from their original habitats, retreated to Texas. Chief among these
were Cherokees, Alabamas, Seminoles, Kickapoos, and Cooshattis.
A group of the Cherokees as early as 1822 tried to get title from the
Mexican government to land on which they had settled in east Texas.
During the Texas Revolution, the temporary government granted them
lands between the Sabine and Angelina Rivers. Afterward, Texas
refused to ratify the treaty, and this brought on the Cherokee War.
Sam Houston, who was an adopted member of the tribe, bitterly
denounced the repudiation of the treaty and the expulsion of the
Cherokees.
After the departure of these Indians in 1839 the Texans had the
Plains Indians, notably the Comanches, with whom to deal.
In 1840, it was agreed to hold a council in San Antonio between
Texas leaders and Indian chiefs, and the Council House Fight ensued
in which the warriors were killed (see San Antonio). This episode so
inflamed the Comanches that, in August of that year, they made the
greatest single raid ever conducted in Texas by Indians. A band of
1,000 warriors swept the valley of the Guadalupe, killing and ravaging.
On their retreat the Indians were overtaken and decisively defeated in
the Battle of Plum Creek (see Tour 23 b) . After this battle, and with
a growing white population, rapid progress was made in pushing the
frontier westward despite continued Indian raids.
After the annexation of Texas by the United States, a line of army
posts was established along the Rio Grande and northward across the
34 TEXAS
western part of the State to the Red River. These stations would have
put an end to Indian troubles had it not been for the disorganization
occasioned by the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. Particu
larly during 1865 and 1866 was the frontier terrorized by Indians.
These raids continued until the late iSyo s though many of the
Indians had been placed on reservations north of the Red River, and
Sherman and Sheridan had marched into Texas and conducted investi
gations of Indian depredations that resulted in the trials of Chiefs
Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree (see Tour 9a). Meanwhile General
R. S. Mackenzie had been commissioned to round up the Indians and
take them back to reservations. His campaign marked the close of
Indian warfare.
There is in Texas today only a small remnant of the once populous
tribes, the census of 1930 showing 1,001. The only Indian settlement
remaining is that of the Alabamas and Cooshattis in the Big Thicket,
Polk County (see Tour 22a) , where 290 Indians live on a reservation.
No clear picture survives today of the Texas Indian as he was in
those remote days of buffalo herds, populous villages, and savage power.
The true archeology of the State lies in "The tales that dead men tell."
Their tales are told by the things they made, used, and left behind
hundreds of years ago; and the language in which they speak is com
parable with that of the fossils of the lithosphere.
Texas has a law regulating the collection of artifacts (see General
Information} .
Museums having outstanding Texas archeological collections are:
1. Anthropology Museum, Waggener Hall, University of Texas,
Austin.
2. Museum of the West Texas Historical and Scientific Society,
Alpine.
3. Baylor University Museum, Waco.
4. Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio.
Archeological sites are:
1. Cave Dwellers: Big Bend (see Tour 23 A) ; Shumla (see Tour
23d) ; Eagle Nest Canyon near Langtry (not on tour) ; Bee Cave Site,
Big Bend (inaccessible except by pack train) ; Seminole Canyon (see
Tour 23d).
2. Sand Hill Culture: Near Sudan (see Tour 21c).
3. Caddo Sites: (see Tours 2, 4 arj d 5c).
4. Coastal Culture: Near Rockport (see Tour 22 b) ; Oso Creek
and Laguna Madre Islands, near Corpus Christi (not on tour).
5. Pictographs: Hueco Tanks (see Tour 29) ; Paint Rock (see
Tour 16c).
6. Burnt Rock Mounds: Near New Boston (see Tour 3a).
FIRST AMERICANS
7. Edwards Plateau Culture: Near Belton (see Tour 8c).
8. Ruins: Near Hereford (see Tour lo).
9. Mounds: Near Victoria (see Tour 7d).
10. Burnt Clay Hearths: Near Brownsville (not on tour).
35
History
A,ONSO ALVAREZ DE PINEDA, searching in 1519 for a
direct western water route to India and Cathay, explored the
Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Yucatan, mapped the coast line,
and sailed into the mouth of the Rio de las Pal mas (the Rio Grande)
to claim part of the lands of the Aztecs for the governor of Jamaica.
The Pineda expedition not only made the first map of the Texas coast,
but also accomplished the first civilized penetration into the region.
As a result, the lower Rio Grande region can claim the distinction of
being the second place to be visited by Europeans within the present
limits of the United States; Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513.
Rivalry prompted the next two entradas (entrances) into Texas.
Francisco Garay, former companion of Christopher Columbus, was the
rival of Cortes, conqueror of Mexico. Garay in 1520 sent, and in
1523 brought galleons loaded with cavaliers and with soldiers armed
with crossbows to the Rio Grande ; but Cortes defeated all his plans and
his cities were never built. In 1527 the cruel Nuno de Guzman
conducted a slave trade among the natives of the Panuco region, whose
kinsmen in the wilderness along the Rio Grande so effectively resisted
the Spaniards that exploration of the interior of present-day Texas was
halted. The advantages of the new land, all the more enticing because
it was unexplored, brought the first strangers to Texas.
In 1528 a few half-dead Spaniards were hurled ashore by the sea
somewhere on or near Galveston Island. They were the remnant of
36
H I ST O R Y 37
the Narvaez expedition to Florida which had met disaster, and were
trying, in rude barges, and using their tattered shirts for sails and the
manes and tails of their horses for rigging, to reach the Rio de las
Palmas. Cabeza de Vaca, of a noble family, told the story.
Savage Karankawas soon surrounded the shipwrecked Spaniards.
Cabeza, though held virtually a captive, impressed the Indians with
his healing power and became respected and feared among them as a
medicine man. In 1535, he and three companions escaped and made
their way westward afoot, from tribe to tribe, until they had crossed
the continent and had reached a port in the Gulf of California occupied
by their countrymen. De Vaca s Relation, published in Spain in 1542,
was the first descriptive story of the interior of this land claimed by
the Spaniards a hypothetical claim, all the interior being still in the
hands of the Indians.
Now, however, began a long and colorful procession of white men
into the region called New Spain. There were 92 expeditions from
the time of Pineda to the year 1731. In 1541 the conquistador ~es of
Coronado marched in, plumed and in coats of mail, fruitlessly seeking
the fabulous Gran Quivira which, like the fabled Seven Cities of
Cibola, was only an Indian myth. Survivors of the expedition of Don
Hernando de Soto wandered, lost, below the lonely banks of the Red
River (see Wichita Falls}. Great though the dangers of hardship
were, men seeking gold, land, slaves, or the salvation of human souls
continued to cross the Rio Grande. They called the new country by
various names Amichel, the New Philippines, and finally Tejas, which
in time became Texas.
In February, 1685, the little Amiable of the fleet of Robert Cavelier,
Sieur de La Salle was wrecked in Matagorda Bay with supplies for a
French colony aboard. The Frenchmen founded Fort St. Louis on
Garcitas Creek, six small huts clustered about a fort in a rude stockade.
This French threat spurred the Spanish settlement of Texas. When
the order of Franciscan monks proposed a spiritual conquest of Texas
through the establishment of missions, their plan was eagerly adopted.
The easternmost Spanish outpost was established on May 25, 1690: the
Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, northwest of the present com
munity of Weches near the Neches River (see Tour 5c).
By 1731, a dozen missions had been established. Civilization cen
tered about their heavily buttressed walls, and the presidios or forts,
built to protect them.
Spanish settlers were persistent hunters, and buffaloes, wild horses,,
and small game were sources of food and profit. Cattle raising, Indian
trading, and the business of smuggling contraband goods through both
the Spanish and French frontiers may be said to have been the leading
industries. Towns were small and primitive, but the style of life in ;
38 TEXAS
many of the flat-roofed adobe houses was patterned after the grand
manner of European society or the viceregal court in Mexico City.
Colonial officials and their ladies had brought jewels and laces to the
frontier. They gave lavish entertainments and drank good wine.
Members of the lower classes, peons, attempted to copy the grandees.
The result was an impermanent, artificial society which left, after more
than a hundred years of Spanish occupation (1820), a population of
less than 3,000 people, whose actual wealth was very small and whose
efforts to develop the region had been confined largely to card tables
and ballrooms.
Not so in the missions. There, life was patterned by brown-robed,
sandaled monks and arranged to fall into an ordered routine, marked
by the ringing of the bells in the chapel towers.
As a Spanish province Texas was ruled by a commandant general,
with local councils or ayuntamientos presided over by alcaldes (civil
magistrates with duties resembling those of mayors).
The center of the province, the seat of its civil government and its
largest settlement, was San Antonio de Bexar, founded in 1718 (see
San Antonio}. Southeastward 80 miles stood the presidio of Nuestra
Senora de Loreto de la Bahia del Espiritu Santo (the present Goliad)
and its mission, the former erected on the San Antonio River in 1749.
These two, San Antonio and Goliad, were the military strongholds.
Nacogdoches, where a mission had been established in 1716, was the
eastern outpost.
ERA OF FILIBUSTERERS
Anglo-Americans had long been interested in Texas, to which the
absence of a natural barrier between Texas and Louisiana, other than
the Sabine River, permitted easy access. Adventure, the desire to
escape justice or debt, the lure of wealth waiting to be taken, called to
men in the United States whose forefathers had for generations been
pushing the frontier forward. It was thus inevitable that filibusterers
should enter Texas.
Philip Nolan in 1800 led a party into the province, ostensibly to
look for wild horses. Spanish soldiers overtook his force on March 21,
1801, and Nolan was killed.
After the United States acquired Louisiana, in 1803, a writer in
New Orleans declared that "the Americans were already spreading out
like oil upon a cloth."
For a time the dividing line between Texas and the United States
was in dispute and therefore vague. Following the Louisiana Purchase,
representatives of the two countries in 1806 set aside a long narrow
strip of land between the holdings of their respective governments as
HISTORY 39
the Neutral Ground, thus hoping to avert difficulties over the owner
ship of the eastern fringe of Texas. Yet shortly afterwards the expedi
tion of Zebulon M. Pike, who was sent into the Southwest by General
Wilkinson, served to center the attention of Anglo-American home
seekers and adventurers once more upon Texas, a land reported to be
rich and desirable. By the Treaty of 1819 between the United States
and Spain, all claims to Texas were formally relinquished by the United
States.
Meantime, the filibustered continued their activities. In 1812-13
Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara and Augustus W. Magee invaded Texas,
and in 1813 the invaders took San Antonio. During this episode the
first Texas newspaper was published in Nacogdoches. The remnant
of the expedition met a Spanish force under Joaquin Arredondo near
the Medina River in August and was slaughtered, few escaping (see
Tour 9c}. Dr. James Long of Natchez, Mississippi, led two expedi
tions into Texas in 1819-1821, and proclaimed the independence of the
province. His attempt and those of others proved unsuccessful.
Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, and Texas, with
Coahuila, became a state of the Mexican Republic.
TEXAS UNDER MEXICO
Moses Austin, middle-aged St. Louis banker who had lost his
fortune in the panic of 1819, secured in 1820 authority from the Span
ish government to settle 300 families in Texas, but soon afterward he
died. His son, Stephen, 28, assumed the colonizing task in 1821, and
by 1831, had brought in 5,600 Anglo-Americans. The metropolis of
the Austin colony was San Felipe de Austin, founded by Stephen
Austin in 1823. This colonial town stood on the banks of the Rio de
los Brazos de Dios (River of the Arms of God).
The life was rigorous, conditions primitive. Here women in drab
calico (which sold for 50 cents a yard) stirred "hog and hominy" with
home-made wooden spoons, and learned the use of the long rifle. They
lived in bare, sometimes windowless, log cabins. Flour was $25 a
barrel. Noah Smithwick credited a Texas housewife with the expres
sion, "Texas is a heaven for men and dogs but hell for women and
oxen."
Austin required every colonist to present evidence that his character
was "perfectly unblemished, that he is a moral and industrious man,
and absolutely free from the vice of intoxication." In 1829 he wrote,
"You will be astonished to see all our houses with no other fastening
than a wooden pin or door latch."
But as immigration increased many arrived who had urgent reasons
for so doing. The letters, "G.T.T." were applied in connection with
4O TEXAS
those who had "Gone to Texas" to escape justice. As in any frontier
society, the two elements, moral and undesirable, were mingled.
The opening of Texas to colonization came at an opportune time
to attract settlers from the United States. The westward movement
of immigration in their own country had brought them to the door of
Texas. A recent panic had wrecked fortunes, and the promise of eco
nomic recovery in a new land was a powerful incentive. Slave owners
saw in Texas an opportunity to increase their profits and to hold, with
out opposition, their human chattels. Thus, the glowing accounts of
the early travelers fell upon fertile ground. "A most delicious coun
try," wrote a United States Senator who had visited Texas in 1829.
". . . (A) most delightful champaign (sic) country; dry, pure, elastic
air, springs of sweet waters . . ."
Cotton farming was the chief commercial occupation of the settlers,
although some of the farmers had formerly been doctors, lawyers, and
clerks. They had inherited the instincts of the man who had hewn
the Wilderness Road, for in many instances their fathers had helped
hew it. Their lives showed the democratic simplicity Thomas Jefferson
preached. This type of immigrant, independent, undeviating, individ
ualistic, had come to live in a land claimed and governed by the Latin-
American, so temperamentally different sensitive, circumspect, respect
ful of tradition, and accustomed to blind obedience to authority.
It was thus inevitable that the question of civil rights should enter
the Texas-Mexican relationship. Mexico had obtained its freedom
after 300 years of subjection to Spain, and was untrained in self-
government. In 1824 it adopted what has been called the most com
plex form of government ever devised by man. The Federal constitu
tion of that year gave, Mexican authorities believed, the rights of free
men to their colonists. But the Anglo-American colonist based his
conception of personal rights upon those obtaining in the United States.
He particularly resented denial of the right of a trial by jury and the
Roman Catholic faith being compulsory the absence of religious
freedom.
When Austin led the way, the other empresarios (colonizers) fol
lowed, and in 1829 there were contracts for nearly 7,000 families.
Stephen Austin, representing the typical slaveholding, conservative ele
ment, was loyal to the Mexican government and strove to reduce the
first symptoms of conflict.
A governor of Durango had written that the United States was
"not dangerous as a conqueror, but as a greedy, aggressive knave."
Henry Clay attempted to prevent ratification of the Treaty of 1819
whereby the United States relinquished claims to Texas, and this did
not lessen Mexico s suspicion and alarm. John Quincy Adams believed
that by the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, Texas belonged to the
HISTORY 41
United States. In 1825 he appointed Clay Secretary of State, and
together they attempted to persuade Mexico to cede to the United
States the territory east of the Rio Grande for one million dollars.
Hay den Edwards, an Anglo-American ernpresar w, in 1826 pro
claimed the Republic of Fredonia and organized a rebellion, after Mex
ican authorities had declared his colonization contract void (see Tour
22a). This abortive attempt at independence on the part of foreign
colonizers was received in Mexico as a danger signal.
On April 6, 1830, a Mexican decree was passed checking further
immigration from the United States. The object of the law was to
colonize Texas with Mexicans and to distribute Mexican troops through
out the province.
Ill feeling grew. In June, 1832, battles occurred at Anahuac and
Velasco between Texas farmers and the Mexican soldiers stationed
there to enforce the laws.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION
As Texas grew it desired a government separate from that of
Coahuila, to which it was joined politically in a union which gave Mex
icans control of its affairs. A convention was held in San Felipe in
October, 1832, at which greater liberties under Mexican law were
sought. Another convention was called in San Felipe in 1833, by
which a proposed state constitution was adopted to be sent to Mexico
for approval, and Austin went to Mexico to present this document and
plead for civil rights. He was imprisoned and held for almost two
years, three months of which he spent in a former dungeon of the In
quisition. This naturally aggravated the strained relations between the
province and the national government.
Meantime, Sam Houston had come to Texas. Houston was a
veteran of Andrew Jackson s Indian wars and had been Governor of
Tennessee. As a United States Congressman he had won national at
tention, partly for his brilliance, and partly for the gaudy Indian
blankets he wore, he in youth having been adopted by the Cherokees,
who had named him Co-lon-neh (the Raven). Following a disastrous
marriage and another sojourn among the Cherokees, Houston at the
age of 39 had chosen Nacogdoches as his home, and was quietly practic
ing law or attending colonial meetings where men spoke strongly of
Mexican oppression. Born in Virginia, Houston was nevertheless essen
tially a product of the stormy Tennessee frontier. He was a natural
leader of the aggressive, adventurous, land-hungry pioneers of the type
that settled the West.
There were now, in Texas, men who dared to drink a new toast in
the taverns of the wilderness: "Liberty and Texas."
42 TEXAS
A young South Carolina lawyer, William Barret Travis, was
earning a reputation as a firebrand. Ladies called him "the gallant
captain." Another fire-eater was James Bowie, mighty fighter and
hunter whose deeds were already epic along the moving frontier, and
whose name had been given to a type of knife which some said his
brother Rezin had designed, and which he wielded w r ith deadly skill.
Throughout Texas men like these were holding meetings. In
Mexico a broker s son, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who had risen
to power, planned the swift subjection of the Texas rebels. Santa
Anna became dictator under the title of El Presidente. In 1835, he
dissolved the legislature of Coahuila and Texas.
The Mexican dictator sent troops northward. Travis went to
Anahuac in June, 1835, and drove the Mexican garrison out.
At the psychological moment Austin came home. He had been re
leased from prison, but his health was broken. The founder of the
first Anglo-American colony spoke, and this is what he said : "Texas
needs peace and local government. Its inhabitants are farmers, they
need a calm and quiet life. But how can anyone remain indifferent
when our rights, our all, appear to be in jeopardy?"
A Committee of Safety organized at Bastrop on the Colorado, May
J 7> J835. Other committees organized.
The first clash of the Texas struggle occurred October 2, 1835,
when an assortment of farmers at Gonzales (see Tour 2jb) defeated
a Mexican force sent to take the town s cannon. A volunteer army
gathered ; they had squirrel guns, hunting knives, butcher knives. Smith-
wick, a soldier there, wrote, "I cannot remember that there was any dis
tinct understanding as to the position we were to assume toward Mex
ico. Some were for independence, some for the Constitution of 1824
and some for anything, just so it was a row. But we were all ready
to fight."
On October 9 a force of about 50 Texas volunteers captured the
important fort at Goliad and seized $10,000 worth of military supplies.
Stephen F. Austin was appointed commander in chief of the Texas
army on October 10, and on October 12 Austin s army marched toward
San Antonio. They numbered about 700, and not even the eloquence
of Sam Houston, who believed the war was premature, could turn them
from their purpose.
San Antonio was besieged by the Texans. On October 28 about
90 men led by James Bowie and James W. Fannin, Jr., defeated about
400 Mexicans who had surrounded them at the old mission of Concep-
cion, near Bexar. The engagement lasted less than half an hour.
Meantime, a "consultation" met at San Felipe on November 3,
1835, and issued a declaration of causes of war. A provisional govern
ment was adopted.
HISTORY 43
In the United States, young men were reading with interest a poster
sent out by Sam Houston: "Volunteers from the United States will
. . . receive liberal bounties of land. . . . Come with a good rifle, and
come soon. . . . Liberty or death! Down with the usurper!"
Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Louisville became recruiting stations
for volunteers.
There was a great frontiersman in the ragged Texas army, who
heard the soldiers murmuring at an order to lift the siege of San An
tonio. Ben Milam s voice suddenly rang out, "Who ll go with old
Ben Milam into San Antonio?"
The answer they gave him is a Texas classic. They went, most of
them with "old Ben Milam" (who was only 44) into Bexar, and on
December 9, 1835, they took the city. Milam had been killed.
When the defeated Mexican army withdrew, the Texans thought
the war was over.
But in Saltillo Santa Anna was assembling a large force. He burned
candles to the Virgin of Guadalupe and robbed the church to hire sol
diers. He flew into a frenzy and shouted, "If the Americans do not
beware I shall march through their own country and plant the Mex
ican flag in Washington."
Travis had been ordered to the Alamo, the old mission at Bexar
which had become a fort. On February 23, 1836, Santa Anna and his
legions arrived at San Antonio.
During this period, bitter political controversies prevented the
orderly supervision of military affairs in Texas, and the soldiers in San
Antonio under Travis and Bowie, their leaders convinced that the
Alamo must be held in order that Santa Anna s march into the interior
might be blocked, had been left upon their own resources. Among the
defenders was David Crockett, noted frontiersman and statesman of
Tennessee. James Butler Bonham, another of the ragged little garri
son, a lifelong friend of Travis, had borrowed the money to come to
Texas that he might fight for its freedom. There were between 185 and
200 fighting men in the Alamo, most of them volunteers.
Before the Texans shut themselves inside the walls of the fort, some
20 or 30 noncombatants sought refuge there. Mrs. Susanna Dickerson
(often inaccurately called Dickenson), wife of the artillery captain,
and her infant daughter Angelina, were among the refugees. A blood
red flag, the flag of no quarter, was hoisted by Santa Anna. This,
and his demand for an unconditional surrender, were answered by the
Texans with a cannon shot.
Travis appeals for aid went unanswered except by 32 brave men
of Gonzales, who marched in even after the doom of the fort seemed
certain. Thirty-seven years later a story was published, as having
been told soon after the battle by one who claimed to have escaped fol-
44 TEXAS
lowing the incident, that Travis, when hope of further aid had been
abandoned, drew a line with his sword and asked all who would stay
and die with him to cross it. P"or a number of reasons, most historians
regard this as, at best, a legend and the heroism of the men of the
Alamo needs no garnishing. They were there of their own choice.
They remained, when they could have fled. They died.
For at daybreak of March 6, while the exhausted Texans slept (the
Mexican bombardment, which had been almost continuous, had tem
porarily ceased, thus offering a brief respite), nearly 3,000 of Santa
Anna s more than 5,000 troops were unleashed against the Alamo,
as the dreadful notes of the deguello, the no-quarter bugle call of Spain,
sounded from the battery where the Mexican general waited.
Still a little dazed from sleep, the Texans sprang to their posts,
and in the terrific fighting that followed, the Mexicans were twice
repulsed as the long rifles of the frontiersmen, the farmers, the "Ten
nessee boys" under Crockett, took a dreadful toll. The steady fire of
small arms and cannon resembled "a constant thunder." Travis fell as
the third attack of the Mexicans succeeded in gaining a breach in the
walls. The Mexicans now penetrated into the interior of the fortress,
as the defenders fought them "muzzle to muzzle, hand to hand, musket
and rifle, bayonet and bowie knife." A Mexican soldier wrote, "The
Texians defended desperately every inch of the fort."
At last, however, overwhelming numbers prevailed. Most authori
ties agree that Crockett died beside the post he had been assigned to de
fend, although there is a story that he was one of several prisoners
who, after the battle, were ordered shot by Santa Anna. Bowie, who
had shared the command with Travis at first, only to fall ill after the
siege had begun, was killed on his cot fighting. There were 187
known victims among the Texans; no male defender survived. Santa
Anna ordered the bodies burned. The 15 or more who were spared were
women and children, slaves and servants.
Mexican losses are estimated at between 600 and 800. The battle,
according to Santa Anna s official report, lasted more than an hour and
a half. Because of the sacrifice made by the Texans and its subse
quent results, the Alamo has become known as the shrine of Texas
liberty (see San Antonio).
On March 2, 1836, the Texas Declaration of Independence was
adopted by a convention of colonists at Washington on the Brazos River,
a constitution was framed and adopted on March 17, and an ad interim
government named.
Santa Anna moved swiftly to complete the conquest of Texas. The
entire command (275 men) of Colonel James W. Fannin, Jr., sur
rendered of necessity on March 2O at the Coleto, to Mexicans under
General Urrea. They were taken to Goliad, and about 330 men, in-
HISTORY 45
eluding Fannin, were shot at Santa Anna s bidding (March 27),
Colonel Ward s force, captured at Victoria March 24, was also massa
cred with Fannin s command (see Tour 2^b).
The Mexican dictator took the field and the "Runaway Scrape"
the flight of Texas families began. Women and children toiled across
muddy prairies toward the Sabine as General Houston, in command of
the Texas army, Fabianly retreated eastward. Historic San Felipe
was burned by the Texans. Forty days passed while Houston played a
game with Santa Anna, always maneuvering out of his reach. At last
they were both in the bayou country near the present city of Houston.
"Old Sam" addressed his men, and gave them in 16 words the slogan
which won what has been listed among the decisive battles of the
world: "Victory is certain! Trust in God and fear not! And re
member the Alamo! Remember the Alamo!"
They took up the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" Someone
added, "Remember Goliad!" and with these vengeful words in their
mouths they marched to meet the Mexican army.
At the junction of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River the
two forces met. The first day, April 20, was spent in skirmishing; the
next day, too, seemed likely to pass without a serious clash. But at
3 130 in the afternoon, when many Mexican officers and men were en
joying a siesta, Houston suddenly gave a command to fall in. The
Texans, weaving their way unseen through the long grass, were within
point-blank range of the Mexican lines when Houston waved his old
campaign hat. It was a signal, and the Texans, shouting, "Remember
the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" stormed through the Mexican barri
cade. The Mexicans awakened in the wildest confusion to stand a
moment before an irresistible force of hate and vengeance, and then
either to flee or to fall. The battle became a rout, a shambles ; and on
the next day, Santa Anna, his army dead or prisoners, was brought in
disguised as a peon. Houston, wounded, received him (see Tour 6 A}.
By accomplishing the colonization of Texas, Stephen F. Austin had
made possible the later extension of the boundaries of the United States
to their present limits in the Southwest. Sam Houston completed and
secured Austin s efforts when he won the Battle of San Jacinto.
THE REPUBLIC
For ten years Texas was an independent nation from March 2,
1836, the date of the declaration, to February 16, 1846, when it became
the twenty-eighth State in the Union.
At its first national election, Sam Houston was chosen President of
the Republic of Texas, and it was voted to seek annexation to the
United States. Houston was inaugurated October 22, 1836.
46 TEXAS
Grave problems faced the Republic. The country was ravaged by
war, the treasury was empty, the government was "land poor," with
few sources of revenue other than quantities of cheap public land. The
first Congress of the Republic in October, 1836, organized national and
local government along typically United States lines.
In 1839 the homestead law was passed, providing that a man s home
and implements could not be taken to satisfy a judgment. But the in
ducement of cheap land was sufficient to cause rapid settlement. By
1846 the frontier had moved west of the present cities of Fort Worth,
Waco, Austin, and San Antonio. Land scrip entitled the holder to a
section of land at 50 cents an acre. Frauds and land schemes led to
confusion and even to bloodshed, which the General Land Office, estab
lished in 1837, failed to control. Financial expedients of the Republic
included paper money. Yet the nation, beset by raiding Indians and
threatened constantly by Mexico, continued unaided on its way. Public
education was provided for in 1839-40 (see Education). The United
States acknowledged the independence of Texas in 1837, France in
1839, and England and Holland in 1840.
The Texas Rangers, a body of righting men organized in 1835,
which, one writer said, "could ride like Mexicans, shoot like Tennes-
seeans, and fight like the very devil," protected the frontier. They were
arrayed against the Indians, raiding Mexicans, and bands of outlaws.
In 1841 Texas attempted to extend jurisdiction over New Mexico,
but the Santa Fe expedition ended in disaster. An invading Mexican
army in 1842 took San Antonio, but following the Battle of the Salado,
September 18, the Mexican force withdrew.
The Mier expedition marched on Mexico in November, 1842.
Forced to surrender, the Texans were ordered to draw beans from a pot,
and a tenth of the force all who had drawn black beans were shot.
ANNEXATION
Texas was becoming a blend of the South and the West, hardly a
fusion of the two, yet having sections populated by men and women
newly arrived from the other American frontiers, or from the slave-
holding sections. Opponents of slavery in the United States, therefore,
bitterly contested the annexation of Texas, while the South sought the
entrance of another slave State.
The increasing economic development of the Republic and the
threat that England, desiring a new source of cotton supply, would
acquire Texas, influenced United States sentiment in favor of annexa
tion. White population in the Republic increased from about 30,000
in 1836 to 102,961 in 1846, and small farms were appearing in isolated
sections. The first Texas railroad was projected in 1836, although it
HISTORY 47
failed to materialize; wagon trains were rutting the prairies, bringing
the elements of wealth with them.
After the prolonged national controversy during which a treaty of
annexation was defeated in the United States Senate and the question
became a Presidential campaign issue, Texas was offered annexation
upon these terms : ( I ) it was to be annexed not as a territory, but as a
State; (2) public lands of the State were to be retained and never to be
surrendered to the Federal government, as in the case of other States;
(3) Texas was to pay its public debts; (4) if desired later, Texas
might divide itself into as many as five States. This proposal was
adopted by a joint resolution of both Houses of Congress of the United
States, March I, 1845.
July 4, 1845, a convention met in Austin and approved the annexa
tion resolution, and thus Texas virtually became a State in the Union
on that date. The people ratified the State constitution on October 13,
1845, and the Congress of the United States, by joint resolution (ap
proved December 29, 1845), voted admittance into the Union. The
first session of the legislature of the new State opened in Austin on
February 16, 1846, and J. P. Henderson was inaugurated the first
Governor. On that date the flag of the Republic with its single star
was lowered, and the Stars and Stripes unfurled as Anson Jones, the
last President of Texas, declaimed: "The Republic of Texas is no
more."
STATEHOOD
Mexico had threatened that it would regard the annexation of Texas
as a declaration of war by the United States. It now prepared to settle
the question of Texas once more on the battlefield.
General Zachary Taylor marched his army toward the Rio Grande
in March, 1846. The first battle of the Mexican War was fought
on Texas soil at Palo Alto, about eight miles from Brownsville, on
May 8.
When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February
2, 1848, a major controversy arose over the State s boundaries. Mex
ico recognized the independence of Texas and accepted the Rio Grande
as the boundary, and the United States acquired from Mexico a vast
region from the Gila River to the forty-second parallel, and from the
Pacific to the Rio Grande. Texas laid claims to a large part of this
region all the territory east of the Rio Grande.
In March, 1848, the State legislature passed a statute creating the
County of Santa Fe, which included the region between the Pecos
River and the Rio Grande and extending north to the forty-second
parallel in what is now the State of Wyoming. Territory thus claimed
by Texas embraced some 100,000 square miles, including parts of the
48 TEXAS
present States of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, and
Colorado.
Texas was a slave State, yet parts of the area involved, notably
in the region of Santa Fe, New Mexico, opposed slavery, so that this
and other conditions made Santa Fe County a national issue. In 1850
a compromise was effected, ending threats on the part of Texas that it
would enforce its claims with arms. The State was paid $10,000,000
to surrender the disputed territory. New boundaries, virtually those of
today, were fixed.
Because of its boundaries on three rivers, all of which are subject
to violent floods and changes of course, Texas has had more boundary
litigation than any other State. Even the compromise of 1850 did not
settle the question. The Rio Grande especially refused to stay in a
fixed channel (see El Paso).
Red River controversies, also caused largely by floods and the
changing course of the river, have been notable for bitterness and blood
shed. One of them, the Greer County case, based upon the disputed
location of the river s main fork, resulted in the loss from Texas to
what is now Oklahoma of 1,511,576 acres of land.
Following the award of $10,000,000 in the 1850 boundary issue,
Texas was able to clear its credit. The State emerged upon a period of
internal development. A new constitution had been written in 1845,
conformable to statehood. It provided for free public schools, one-
tenth of the general revenues of the State being set apart for school pur
poses. By 1850, the population of the State had become 212,592.
The Federal government garrisoned at least 19 forts in the State
for the protection of the people against Indians. Clashes between
Texans and Mexicans continued, culminating in the capture of Browns
ville in 1859 by Juan Cortinas, a Mexican border outlaw (see Tour 9c) .
In 1848 the public domain was estimated at about 181,965,332
acres. The State used this wealth of land to obtain schools, railroads,
and public institutions. Colonizers, offered rich land grants, brought
foreign settlers to Texas, including the French socialists of Consider-
ant s colony near Dallas, and Castro s colony in Castroville, also French.
The Germans settled many communities, notably New Braunfels and
Fredericksburg. It was necessary to create 89 new counties in the
1850*8.
Before 1860 the population was almost entirely rural. Since the
South had embraced the cause of annexation, politics in the State leaned
heavily in that direction : "We are all Democrats in Texas," wrote
Guy M. Bryan in 1845. The Know-Nothing Party had gained
strength by 1855. The northeastern part of the State was developing
rapidly, with most of the Mexicans, Germans, and scattered ranchers
in west Texas. East of Waco and Fort Worth the tide of newcomers
HISTORY 49
was tremendous. The first overland mail coach left San Antonio for
San Diego on August 9, 1857.
THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
In February, 1861, the people of Texas, by popular vote, ratified an
ordinance of secession. Sam Houston, who had become Governor in
1859, opposed secession and refused to subscribe to an oath supporting
the constitution of the Confederacy. His office was declared vacant
and he was deposed. A lonely and impoverished old man, he lived to
see his star rise once more, feebly, when friends solicited him to run for
the governorship in 1863; but he declined, and on July 26 of that year
he died. The struggle between Houston and Austin had led to strange
ends: Austin lost to Houston in 1835 when Texas broke with Mex
ico, but before he died Houston had lost to the element which Austin
typified.
Protected from the war by geography, Texas saw few major Civil
War engagements. The Battle of Galveston in 1863 (see Galveston),
and the Battle of Sabine Pass (see Tour $c), served to prevent invasion
by way of the coast. Sentiment in some sections was divided, and about
2,000 Texans enlisted in the Union army. Texas furnished the Con
federacy huge amounts of supplies obtained from Europe through Mex
ico, besides those from its own resources. Crops were good.
The last land engagement of the war was fought on Palmito Hill,
May 12-13, 1865.
On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston
and, in the name of the Federal government, proclaimed all slaves free
and all laws enacted since 1861 null and void.
The "Radicals," or those of Northern sympathy, rose to power in
State politics, and the Freedmen s Bureau and Union Leagues were
created. Race riots flared, the Ku Klux Klan rode, and lawlessness
gripped the State as thousands of freed Negroes, cast adrift, congregated
in towns and near military camps, existing by begging or by occasionally
doing odd jobs. In 1860, the assessed valuation of slaves in Texas was
$64,000,000. Most of these Negroes fondly believed that the govern
ment would give them "forty acres and a mule."
From 1865 to 1869 Texas was under military government. In the
latter year a constitution was framed by a convention called under the
Reconstruction Acts of 1868. It created equal suffrage for whites and
Negroes and made elaborate provisions for a free school system.
Largely through the effort of the Freedmen s Bureau, most of the
freed Negroes had gone to work by 1866.
The legislature, in 1870, ratified the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Six
5O TEXAS
weeks later, on March 30, the United States Congress readmitted Texas
as a State of the Union.
The opposition of conservative citizens to the radical regime of
Governor E. J. Davis led to the "capture" of the legislative hall by
Democrats, in 1874, and the inauguration of a conservative regime
under Governor Richard Coke. Davis appeal to President Grant for
Federal troops to reinstate his government failed, and with the retire
ment of the radical leader Reconstruction ended in Texas (January
17, 1874). In spite of turmoil the State had prospered, and by 1870
population had gained 35 per cent over a ten-year period (from 604,215
in 1860 to 818,579 in 1870).
THE TRAIL DRIVERS AND THE CONQUEST
OF THE FRONTIER
The broad prairies of south, east and southwest Texas were being
slowly settled by ranchmen before the Civil War. Texas found itself
impoverished at the conclusion of the war, but with more than three
million head of cattle on its ranges. Then the bold plan to drive cattle
to distant markets was conceived (see Agriculture and Livestock}.
Cattlemen became acquainted with the unpopulated plains region as the
business of the trails grew into a hundred million dollar enterprise.
The Indians, who had retarded settlement westward, were subdued in
1875, and settlement of the Panhandle and the western plains began.
The Rio Grande at last actually became the frontier.
Barbed wire was successfully introduced into Texas in 1876. The
free range that had fostered the great herds of early days was doomed
by this invention, also by the coming of the homesteaders. Cattle barons,
enraged at the encroachment of sheep ranchers or farming "nesters"
upon their former pastures, started the Fence-cutting War. Cattle
thieves or "rustlers" also learned to cut fences. As the ranchers
adopted barbed wire it became apparent that protection was necessary.
They organized the Stock Raisers Association of Northwestern Texas,
which later became the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Asso
ciation. Texas Rangers attempted to curb the bitterness and bloodshed
of the Fence-cutting War, but fence riders continued to patrol the
barbed wire boundaries of big ranches until a law against fence cutting
was passed in 1884.
To meet the needs of a period of great growth and expansion, a new
constitution was framed in 1876. The registration of voters was abol
ished, and the supremacy of the people was assured in various provi
sions of the constitution, which remains in effect today.
A rapid and large influx of people and of capital swept into Texas
HISTORY 51
in the seventies and eighties. Railroads outranked all other public en
terprises. There was no system of regulation, and scandals developed.
The fight made by James Stephen Hogg (later Governor) upon
the railroads was prompted by the farmers of Texas, who were known
then in State politics through an organization called the Patrons of
Husbandry, or the "Grangers." Agrarian leaders found another
medium in the Populist or People s Party, the membership of which they
controlled. Populist strength was greatest in 1896, but declined after
1900. The agrarian movement in Texas was cemented by this party.
During its heyday, socialistic camp meetings were held by its members.
Another effect of the railroad reform movement was the development
of the Progressives, as Governor Hogg s political faction was called.
The railroads, more than any other single influence of their period,
helped conquer the last State frontiers. Settlers followed the course of
the new roads w^est.
Governor Hogg led the list of governors of this period who secured
vigorous reforms. Notable among the measures passed were the anti
trust laws. Texas was the second State to pass such a law, in 1889, and
the next year the Federal government passed a similar measure, the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Meantime, the period between the close of the Civil War and the
mid-nineties was productive of "bad men" of all descriptions. The
cattle trails, border disturbances and, chiefly, Reconstruction, all con
tributed their quota of gentlemen with notches on their guns. John
Wesley Hardin and Sam Bass were probably the most notorious of the
lot.
The Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt s famous volunteers, were
trained in San Antcnio, but other than a generous contribution of man
power, the Spanish-American War affected Texas but little.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Since 1900 the development of Texas has been largely industrial
and agricultural. The increase of railroad mileage, the construction
of good roads, the development of irrigation and of farming generally
in sections formerly devoted to the livestock industry or not used at all,
caused the remarkable growth of the State and established its modern
character. Texas grew up in the years from 1900 to 1920.
With a population in 1900 of 3,048,710, 82 per cent of which was
rural, the State had recovered from the depression caused by the Civil
War and the money panics of 1873 and 1893. Farms in the State were
worth four times more than in 1880, and manufactures in 1899 totaled
more than $90,000,000.
On September 8, 1900, a hurricane and tidal wave took about
52 TEXAS
6,OOO lives in the city of Galveston. As a $20,000,000 loss was counted,
the need of extraordinary measures to cope with the emergency was
recognized. A local committee was given full authority to rehabilitate
the city. They performed their duties so successfully that in 1901
Galveston applied for a new charter which would permit five commis
sioners to conduct the local government. The commission form of city
government grew out of this experiment.
Pioneers at the opening of the century were cotton and wheat
farmers, pushing the agricultural frontier into west Texas and north
westward into the Panhandle. At the time of the Civil War the cotton
belt in Texas ended at the outskirts of Fort Worth and San Antonio.
By 1900 cotton was being produced on the South Plains. Irrigation
was a later development, notably of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The most spectacular industrial development is that of the oil
business (see Industry, Commerce, and Labor).
Texas population has been greatly urbanized since 1900. By 1920
the number of urban communities had almost doubled, and in the next
ten years this type of population grew from 32.4 per cent to 41 per
cent. Texas lost its frontier character in the march of people to the
cities. And, with the conquest of the wilderness accomplished, the peo
ple turned now to higher education, to the development of Texas
literature, music, theater, and art movements.
Politics turned consistently to conservative Democracy. At the
turn of the century the spectacular leaders passed. There was, however,
one exception, James E. Ferguson. He started life as a poor boy on a
farm. In 1914 he appeared as the champion of the farmers and was
elected Governor. He fulfilled his pledges of farm reforms and of
rural school aid, and was re-elected. During his second term he was im
peached and removed from office. His wife, Miriam A. Ferguson, in
1924 entered the gubernatorial campaign to avenge her husband. The
Ku Klux Klan had become an issue in State politics, and in opposing it
the Fergusons found new friends. Mrs. Ferguson was the second
woman in the United States to become a State Governor the first was
Mrs. Nellie Ross, of Wyoming. Since the stormy politics of the twen
ties "Fergusonism" has been an issue in Texas, the farmer-labor ele
ments often supporting Ferguson s candidates for office. Including
1932, the Fergusons had participated in n primary and four general
elections in contests for the governorship.
Prohibition entered the political situation as early as 1886. The
issue was a predominant one in the State until the passage and later
repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.
From 1912 to 1920 the Mexican border was in constant turmoil
from three causes: Mexican revolutions, prohibition violators, and the
HISTORY 53
World War. Along the Texas boundary raids, murders, and serious
clashes occurred, taking a large toll.
Mobilization of National Guard regiments converted the Texas
side of the Rio Grande into a huge armed camp. The raid of Francisco
(Pancho) Villa on Columbus, New Mexico, in March, 1916, led to
Pershing s punitive expedition into Mexico.
Prohibition enforcement along the Rio Grande was a disturbing
factor until repeal, in 1933, removed the cause of frequent battles be
tween smugglers and United States Customs patrol officers.
To the mild winter climate of Texas was due the erection of can
tonments in and near most of the larger cities during the World War,
and the State teemed with military activities. Nearly 210,000 Texans
served. The two Texas divisions, the Thirty-sixth and the Ninetieth,
participated in the fighting at St. Mihiel and in the Argonne Forest.
Texas troops were in the Forty-second Division, which participated in
the Battle of the Marne. As in the Civil War, Texas furnished huge
amounts of supplies. In general, the State prospered and its population
increased during this period from 3,896,542 in 1910 to 4,663,228 in
1920. In the next decade, the increase was almost 24 per cent to
5,824,715 in 1930. In 1940 the population was conservatively placed
at 6,450,000.
In general tending toward Southern conservatism, Texas still shows
the cleavages between the fusion of South and West. The ranchmen
and the urban dwellers of the commercial and industrial cities have pre
served the typical Western boom spirit and the attitudes and manners
of the West. Austin s influence lingers in the older and rural districts,
where, especially in east Texas, the heritage of the immigration from
the Old South is seen.
Legislative reforms, provisions for the education of the masses, and
State regulation of economic interest have characterized the politics of
recent years.
The State Board of Control and the State Highway Commission
represent but few of the many measures taken to insure greater co
ordination between the people and their State government.
The pioneering phase has been brought to an end in commerce and
in industry as well as in history. Texas has arrived at a period of sec
ond growth. In 1940, this seemed to center upon the development of
the people culturally as well as economically.
Government
THAT rugged spirit which built the first Anglo-American town
in the wilderness was the heritage of Texas lawmakers, and the
government of the State still wears the brand of the freedom-
loving, expansively energetic men of the frontier.
First as a Spanish province, then as a Mexican state, and as an
American republic, Texas early government was adjusted to suit the
character of the ruling element.
When the Constitution of the Republic of Texas was adopted in
Washington on the Brazos (see Tour 24^), on March 2, 1836, ama
teur legislators, many of them fresh from their fields, adopted a docu
ment noteworthy for its brevity and for the spirit of independence it
showed. Although its authors, fleeing before an invading army, lost the
original draft of the constitution so tradition says its principles were
so essential to the type of men it represented, that its doctrines re
mained unchanged.
Texas is operating under its fourth constitution, this one having
been adopted February 15, 1876, since when, until 1940, approximately
8l amendments had been added.
The Bill of Rights of the present constitution is modeled after that
of the Constitution of the United States. The importance of the voice
of the people in Texas government is shown in the fourth part of the
constitution, which provided for as many amendments as the majority
of voters shall decree.
54
GOVERNMENT 55
In 1905 political abuses led to the adoption of the Terrell Election
Law. This abolished the old convention system of selecting party
nominees, and created instead the primary election. Under this system
candidates are named in primary elections held in July of even-num
bered years. Failing a majority vote, the two highest candidates enter
a second or "run-off" primary, held in August. In November the
general election is held. Public interest, however, centers on the pri
maries, which are the real test.
A number of officers and boards were abolished in 1919 and their
functions were assumed by a new group, the State Board of Control.
The three members of this board exercise general mandate over the
fiscal policies of the State and make up the budget of the various agen
cies of government. This board also acts as the general purchasing
and contracting agency for the State, and exercises general supervision
over all eleemosynary institutions. Members are appointed by the Gov
ernor and confirmed by the Senate.
Originally created to supervise the operations of railroads only, the
State Railroad Commission still performs this function but also exercises
jurisdiction over all common carriers. A major function of this group
of three elective officers (one is elected every two years for a six-year
term) is the control of petroleum quota restrictions.
Another agency, the State Department of Public Safety, is charged
with general enforcement of the laws. Officers, appointed by this de
partment, patrol the highways, and the department acts in times of
emergency for the protection of the people. The historic Texas Ranger
force is attached to this department.
The present Texas governmental system embraces a governor, a
lieutenant governor, and State administrative officers, a bicameral legis
lature, the judiciary, and more than 100 departments, boards and com
missions. The Senate consists of 31 members; the House of Representa
tives of 150. The judiciary includes the State supreme court, a court
of criminal appeals having final jurisdiction in criminal cases, II courts
of civil appeals, and more than 100 district courts. In addition there
are the usual courts of limited jurisdiction such as county courts, justice
of the peace courts, and police courts.
Partly as a result of the great (and now largely out-of-date) detail
which was included in the present constitution and which can be altered
only through formal amendment, and partly because the new adminis
trative needs have been met through statutory enactment, the adminis
trative system is a frequently inefficient patchwork. New needs have
been met as they have arisen and little attention has been given to the
problem of establishing a continuing policy designed to produce a well-
rounded administrative system.
The State is divided into 254 counties which are the principal ad-
56 TEXAS
minfstrative units. Each county has a commissioners court consisting
of four commissioners elected from individual precincts and an elective
county judge. Cities of 5,000 or more population may govern them
selves under a home-rule charter ; smaller places are under the general
laws of the State. The form of city government varies. The inde
pendence of local government in Texas often leads to wide discrepancies
in such matters as taxes. Where one county may assess its property at
50 per cent of its true value, an adjoining county may use a 25 per cent
basis. Thus in 1922 a total of 1 1 1 counties actually received in free
State funds more money than they had collected in taxes.
The elective franchise is exercised under a system by which voters
possessing a poll-tax receipt cast a theoretically secret ballot, the lack of
complete secrecy being due to a provision that an identifying number
must be placed upon the back of the ballot for the purpose of with
drawing that ballot from the count should the right of the voter to
cast it be successfully challenged in the courts.
The governor and the lieutenant governor are elected for a term
of two years as are the adjutant general, attorney general, secretary of
state, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, auditor and most
other executive officers.
The legislature meets at Austin in regular session the first Tuesday
in January of odd-numbered years. Regular sessions average 120 days.
In Texas the penalties for crime are assessed by the juries which
bring in verdicts, unless the defendant waives the jury and pleads
guilty. In all cases in which the death penalty can be exacted, a jury
must be impaneled to assess the penalty. There are a greater number
of legal justifications for homicide than in some other States, many of
them dating from frontier days when men, if they were to survive,
often needed to "pack their own law in a holster." In explanation of
a not uncommon attitude toward some of those responsible for violent
deaths, a highly respected Texas jurist not stating what the procedure
ought to be but what it was once said : "In Texas the first question
to be decided by a jury in any homicide case is, Should the deceased have
departed? "
The shooting of a criminal resisting lawful arrest or about to com
mit a felony is justifiable homicide. A fleeing convict may also be killed
without legal recourse against the officer. In personal quarrels, self-
defense is liberally interpreted to include the shooting not only of one
who is armed and attempts to produce a weapon, but also of one who
is not armed but who has made threats, is reputed to go armed, and
seemed to the killer to be making a motion to draw a pistol. "Insanity
by reason of intoxication" is a legally mitigating circumstance. There
also is a defense based upon "cooling time," it being held that any in
sulted person who kills before he has time to "cool" is not guilty of
GOVERNMENT
57
murder. It is held to be "murder without malice" for a man to kill
another for an offense toward a female relative, provided the act
occurs as soon as the parties meet after the killer has knowledge of the
insult.
The Texas homestead law of early days remains, and under it
homesteads may not be foreclosed except for purchase price, improve
ment liens and taxes. Moreover, a creditor must always leave a man
sufficient tools and domestic animals with which to make a living.
Under Texas laws, salary checks may not be attached for debt.
Robbery with firearms is a capital offense in Texas. This law orig
inated as the result of a series of bank robberies in 1926. Texas bankers
are authorized to carry arms and to "shoot it out" with bandits if they
care to.
Industry y Commerce, and Labor
PROGRESSING from its limited early industrial interests, con
fined largely to "cotton, cows, and corn," Texas in 1937, the
date of the last available United States Government estimate,
had 4,422 factories with a gross income of $5,000 a year and upwards.
The value of manufactured products was estimated at $1,581,422,401.
The 1937 census of the Department of Commerce gave the State elev
enth place in industry in the United States, while the Texas State
Manufacturers Association gave Texas (1940) seventh place. Texas
occupied first place (1937) m the South in the value of its manu
factured products; on the basis of value added by manufacture it is
second, excelled only by North Carolina. Four Texas counties, Dallas,
Harris, Bexar and Tarrant, ranked among the first 100 in the Nation
in 1937 m the number of manufacturing establishments, according to
reports made public by Secretary of Commerce Harry L. Hopkins.
Industry hinges largely upon the State s vast supply of certain raw
materials: cotton, oil, and natural gas, cattle, sulphur, and timber.
These and the other principal products, worth an average of $1,500,-
000,000 annually, fall into three great groups: products of the soil,
mineral fuels, and nonmetallic minerals.
In the first ten years of the century, Texas manufactures increased
almost 200 per cent, primarily because of the discovery of the State s
first oil gusher at Spindletop in 1901. Before this time, Texas had been
considered an agricultural State. Other factors, such as the continuing
58
&3&3&^^^
Industry and Commerce
?S2
^
WEIGHING COTTON AT A COMPRESS, HOUSTON
LOADING COTTON, GALVESTON
MUNICIPAL DOCKS, BKAUMONT
/ /,
TURNING BASIN, CORPUS CHRISTI
*r^>
j. r
LOADING OIL, PORT ARTHUR
OIL TANKS. NEAR BEAUMONT, WITH SPIND1.ETOP FIELD IN DISTANCE
OIL DERRICKS IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT, KILGORE
IB"
IB
.
i
i
It k. v l k^ ., I . V* .
uli;
ffrr
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E [{[!
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MAIN STRKKT.
KASTKRLY FROM
FIF.I.l) STRKKT,
DALLAS
Frank Rotifers
GULF BUILDING,
HOUSTON
LUMBER IN RAILROAD YARDS, MARSHALL
IN A QUICKSILVER MINE, TERLINGUA
INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, AND LABOR 59
growth of population, the improvement of transportation facilities, and
urban development were also important. Moreover, industrial ex
pansion has been influenced by the port and harbor development of the
Gulf Coast, and by the proximity of Mexico and the other Latin-
Americas, the latter offering a quick and dependable market. In 1937
there were 129,501 factory employees, earning $132,505,115.
Greatest of the industries of Texas is petroleum, which lifted the
State from industrial insignificance and placed it in a position to enlarge
its commercial horizon. The income from its oil fields is enormous and
the industries related to petroleum production are many. Millions
of dollars are being poured into the State for building thousands of miles
of pipe lines, machinery and supplies, for drilling operations and re
fining, for pay rolls, and for exported oil and gas. In the 79 plants
engaged in petroleum processing or in the manufacturing of products,
the value of the output at the latest census reached $689,625,304.
Texas is the leading natural gas-producing State in the country ; it also
leads in the production and processing of such products as carbon black
and helium.
The earliest manufactures were those of the various Indian tribes;
an example is the Caddo pottery of east Texas. During the period
of Hispano-American occupation and the early Anglo-American era,
Texas manuTacturing belonged in the class of handicrafts, character
istic of scattered and isolated pioneer settlements. The journal of
Daniel Hartzo, a farmer, quaintly reveals how goods were produced
then:
November 22, 1841, I maid a wheel. . . .
November 29 ... maid a coffin. . . .
December i . . . maid a reel. . . .
January 8, 1842 . . . hude puncheons.
. . . February 3, grained deer skins.
. . . April 7, maid a chern. . . . July
25, maid a pr. of Shoes.
One of the first applications of mechanical energy in Texas manu
facturing was the use of water power in pioneer sawmills and gristmills.
The Mormons were among the earliest mill operators.
Shortly before the Civil War the Llewellyn iron furnaces and a
plow factory began operations in Kellyville. The Confederate gov
ernment established a slaughterhouse or packing plant at Jefferson. But
even this early development had been preceded by small beef canneries
at Galveston and Jefferson, the products of which were shipped to the
West Indies.
First of the larger ventures in processing Texas raw materials were
the hide and tallow factories that grew up along the Gulf Coast from
Galveston to Point Isabel in the decade following the close of the
Civil War.
6O TEXAS
An extensive group of packing plants was on Aransas Bay at Rock-
port and Fulton. Three were in operation at one time in Corpus
Christi ; others were at the mouth of the Rio Grande, serving markets
in Mexico. On Matagorda Bay, "Shanghai" Pierce operated his own
plant, as did King and Kenedy on their vast ranch holdings south of the
Nueces. In this period before the introduction of commercial refrig
eration, hides and tallow were the chief products. In some instances
the hindquarters were salted down, and in others beef was pickled and
packed in barrels. At one time a bone mill on Aransas Bay was mak
ing fertilizer from the refuse. In the late 1870*5 the hide and tallow
industry was brought to an end. Buffaloes were being cleared from the
plains, and for a decade and more millions of Texas cattle in great
herds were driven north.
Then the railroads came, and with the growth of commercial centers
and the extension of transportation facilities westward, packing houses
were established in the larger places. Frank Hastings, in his A Ranch
man s Recollections, said there was a packing house in Denison in 1874
or 1875. Also according to Hastings "the first application of ice to
the packing industry in the United States seems to have been at
Denison, Texas." In the 1870*5, Fort Worth acquired a small packing
plant; by 1902 the packing business there had expanded tremendously.
In 1937 there were 41 meat packing plants in Texas.
One of the earlier handicraft industries the making of cowboy
boots has persisted down to the present. Modern tanning plants have
been developed, such as those at Sherman, Nocona, New Braunfels,
Yoakum and Fredericksburg. There is a modern boot and shoe manu
facturing plant in Fort Worth, and other towns have smaller factories.
It is a striking fact that a good share of these Texas-made products
are sold outside the State, while Texans depend largely on St. Louis
and Boston for their shoes.
Naturally, lumbering early became an important industry. Before
the railroads came, lumber was hauled long distances from the pine
forests of east Texas into central Texas; and with the coming of rail
roads a wide market was rapidly established as the timberless prairies
and plains were settled. The forests of the Austin colony whined with
the activities of scattered sawmills in the 1830*5, but by 1890 the lumber
industry of the United States migrated southward and to the north
west. In Texas lumber production was heaviest prior to 1910. The
State s remaining virgin and second growth of pine timber is being cut
at the rate of about a billion and a half feet of lumber a year. At least
one large plant of the pulp and paper industry has been established
in Texas, and wood products other than lumber have been developed
in several communities such as the manufacture of furniture, the mak
ing of cross ties, telegraph and telephone poles, piling materials, and
INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, AND LABOR 6l
similar products. In connection with the production of ties, poles, and
piling, the creosoting of this material has created a steadily growing
industry, particularly in Houston and Beaumont.
Still another wood-products industry in Texas centers about the
extensive cedar woodlands that cover the broken country of the State.
For years these cedar brakes have supplied vast numbers of fence posts,
and in places the production of charcoal has been of local importance.
More recently the manufacture of cedar oil has attracted attention. As
Texas has one of the largest reserves of cedar timber in the United
States, the future of this industry seems assured. There were in 1940
a total of 535 sawmills, and 104 other wood-using industrial plants.
The normal annual output of all phases of the lumber industry pro
duces values estimated at $50,000,000. Approximately 25,000 persons
are employed, the pay roll averaging $25,000,000 a year.
At the turn of the century most commercial centers of the cotton-
growing regions had one or more cottonseed oil mills. Especially was
this true of the premier cotton-growing country of the rich Blacklands.
In more recent years, with the increasing popularity of cottonseed oil
products for cooking purposes, a number of modern vegetable oil re
fining plants of substantial size and output have been developed in
Dallas, Houston, Sherman, San Antonio and elsewhere. In 1937 there
were 144 active cottonseed oil mills and the value of their products
reached $52,322,363. In addition, 64 oil mills (1938) were manufac
turing lard substitutes.
In a general way the growth of vegetable oil refining plants has
paralleled the expansion of dairy products plants, represented by branch
establishments of a number of national dairy concerns. Most of these
plants are on the agricultural prairie lands, such as those at Waco,
Schulenburg, Denison, and Victoria. The value of butter produced in
the creameries alone in 1937 amounted to $12,775,339. Dairying in
Texas annually represents about an eighty-five-million-dollar business.
Among the processing industries is the recently developed one of
canning fruits and vegetables. In 1937 there were 75 plants with an
annual output of canned foods valued at $14,366,609. During the
1938-39 season, citrus processing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley util
ized 215,727 tons or 5,531,475 boxes of fresh grapefruit. There are 69
plants engaged in canning all kinds of vegetables. The growth of the
canning industry and its potentialities in Texas has been sufficient to
bring into the State branch plants at Houston of the two largest manu
facturers of cans in the country.
Another group of manufacturing plants processing raw materials
from Texas farms are the cotton textile mills at New Braunfels,
Dallas, Mexia, Houston, Denison, Hillsboro, and other communities.
Texas, first in the production of raw cotton, ranks low in the volume
62 TEXAS
turned out by its cotton mills; and though the State leads in the pro
duction of wool and mohair, it has only one wool scouring plant. The
active mills number 19. Production value in 1937 was $14,802,905.
The State s mills consume only about three per cent of the cotton pro
duced in Texas. Manufacture is confined largely to the production
of coarser goods, such as duck, sheeting, ginghams, and denims.
The manufacture of flour to supply the home market has been
a Texas industry for three-quarters of a century and more. In 1859
Carl Hilmer Guenther established the Pioneer Flour Mills of San
Antonio. In recent years, particularly with the growth of the dairying
and poultry industry, the manufacture of feedstuffs has become an
important milling enterprise. Plants in the major cities have been
materially affected by the shift of hard winter wheat production into
the Panhandle.
An industry of ancient origin is that of the preparation of Mexican
foods for home and outside markets. San Antonio and Austin have
large canning plants for this purpose. Among other industries process
ing Texas agricultural materials are peanut products plants, poultry
dressing and egg products plants, broom factories, and rice mills. Texas
agriculture normally produces about $600,000,000 in new wealth an
nually.
The development of the oil industry has virtually transformed the
State s economic life. In 1939 there were 82,328 oil wells, in 950
fields. Texas leads in refining, with 154 plants. The movement
toward concentration of modern refining capacity on the Gulf Coast,
with its access to Atlantic seaboard markets by low-cost tanker trans
portation, promises an even greater production output. The production
of a wide range of chemicals from oil products and residues may be
considered to have only begun in the State. Also, the large expansion of
the oil-refining industry and recent readjustments therein have been
factors of no small importance in developing markets for the State s
sulphuric acid and fuller s earth products.
Since 1929 the value of petroleum has surpassed that of cotton,
although cotton still gives employment to more persons than does oil
and its industries. The estimated value of the oil pay roll in 1937 was
nearly $190,000,000. One of every six citizens of the State depends, di
rectly or indirectly, upon the petroleum industry for a livelihood. Pe
troleum production in 1937 was valued at $594,500,000. Natural-gas
gasoline was worth $24,329,000; natural gas, $132,166,000.
As an industrial fuel, natural gas has attained first rank. The zinc
smelter in Amarillo was located there because of the availability of
natural gas, often called the perfect fuel. It is especially desirable for
certain industries, such as glassmaking (Texas has a few such plants),
and for pottery manufacture.
INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, AND LABOR 63
One large refining plant in El Paso smelts gold, silver, lead and
copper ores and another refines blister copper obtained from Arizona.
Silver leads other metallic mineral resources of the State in value,
the 1937 estimate being $1,025,398. The estimated value of 2,000
flasks of mercury produced during 1937 was $180,000. Laredo has
one of the few antimony smelters in this country. It treats ore brought
from Mexico and even from Bolivia and Peru.
Another industry based upon the refining of imported raw materials
is the manufacture of sugar; there is a large plant in Sugarland.
Texas sulphur mines yielded $36,545,670 worth of minerals in
1937. Salt production was valued at $623,037. Nonmetallic minerals,
including the enormous production of gypsum, limestone, clays, and the
like, yield a large annual income in both raw materials and pay rolls,
and indications all point toward greater development. The chemical
industries produce sulphuric acid and a number of less important prod
ucts, and more recently, with the establishment of a large plant at
Corpus Christi, have begun to produce the heavy alkalies. There are a
number of other enterprises making use of nonmetallics the lime in
dustry, cement, graphite and ichytol, rock asphalt, and Darco (activated
carbon used in refining or removing colloidal impurities from liquid
substances), made from Texas lignite at the Darco plant in Marshall.
Building stone, exclusive of marble, was valued at $2,218,643 in 1937.
Health resorts are located where mineral waters are available. The
preparation of crystals by evaporation from these mineral waters has
become an important enterprise. Fuller s earth plants are operating
in Walker and Fayette Counties. The potash industry also uses non
metallics. Total mineral production for the State in 1937 was valued
at $813,207,605.
It has been predicted that the wide range of nonmetallic resources
of the State, in conjunction with the ever-widening uses and the grow
ing demand for products made from these resources, will furnish the
chief means of industrial expansion.
The generation of electric power is a manufacturing industry of vast
proportions and is of great significance in Texas as elsewhere. The
growth of large power stations and the extension of State-wide inter
connection of power systems has occurred mainly since 1912.
There is, of course, a wide variety of Texas industries serving local
markets and of finished goods industries serving sectional markets. One
of the most- important of these is the manufacturing of clothing for men,
women, and children. There were 144 clothing factories in 1937,
whose combined production was valued at about $25,000,000. The
production of infants wear employs hundreds of workers, most of them
Mexicans.
Commercial fishing is a thriving industry. The average annual
64 TEXAS
catch along the Gulf Coast is approximately 20,000,000 pounds of fish ;
the average catch of shrimp is more than 11,000,000 pounds, and
oysters yield an average of a million and a half pounds. Shrimp can
ning has increased, with one cannery in Aransas Pass and two in Cor
pus Christi.
Organized labor in Texas has followed national movements through
out the years, although rather slowly. The growth of large industrial
centers has been relatively recent, and the trend of thought among
native Texans whether employers or employees ever since frontier
days has been independent and individualistic.
Following the decline of the Knights of Labor in the i88o s the
American Federation of Labor started activities in 1886, although there
was little development. With the acceleration of business in 1897, to
1906, the Federation enjoyed a steady and fairly rapid growth. Its
membership increased most in Texas, as throughout the Nation, during
the World War, reaching more than four million in 1920.
In the late 1920 $ and early 1930 $ the longshoremen at Houston and
in the Sabine district the chief shipping centers of southeast Texas
although organized along craft lines, developed a strong militant unit
that became very active during the Gulf Coast strike of 1935. The
situation became acute along Houston s waterfront in 1934 when strik
ing longshoremen, strikebreaker guards, and non-union workers clashed
frequently and violently, for four months. On one occasion three men
were killed. Both sides made concessions before the strike ended. The
1935 strike lasted 62 days and affected 2,300 longshoremen, who de
manded support from the steamship companies for the unionization of
eastern Gulf ports. There were several strike fatalities and shipping
suffered. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins secured a settlement in
volving mutual concessions.
The oil workers, most strongly organized in the refineries, are the
largest group of the Texas membership of the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, which also has as affiliates some locals of the National
Maritime Union, a local of the Fisherman s Inner Boatman s Division,
shrimp fishermen, and the Newspaper Guild.
Transportation
WHEN the ships of the first Anglo-Americans nosed into the
silt-filled bays and rivers of the Texas coast, El Camino Real
(The King s Highway), route of the explorers, and road of
barefoot monks, which was not a road in fact but only a vague direc
tion, alone connected the far-flung settlements which told the tale of
three centuries of Spanish rule.
Moreover, 500 miles of unoccupied territory separated Texas from
the frontier outposts of New Orleans, Natchez, Memphis, and St.
Louis. The settlers had to cross this Indian-infested wild or dare the
dangers of Gulf and river navigation. Nor were their difficulties les
sened when they reached their destination.
The map shows Texas with 400 miles of seacoast and innumerable
large rivers which would seem to make for easy communication and
transportation, but in fact, that long indented sea line of bays and
inlets protected by slivers of islands and attenuated peninsulas has no
natural harbors or passes through which a ship can safely sail. The flow
of the rivers is too irregular and the deposits of silt are too heavy to
allow navigation except for short distances near the mouths. So here
was a vast region, remote, trackless, with waterways that afforded but
small natural assistance in penetration and whose harbors were so treach
erous that they caused frequent disasters in wrecked shipping.
Nevertheless, the waterways were all the pioneers had. The ves
sels were small at best. Galveston Bay and Buffalo Baj ou furnished
65
TEXAS PASSENGER
TRANSPORTATION ROUTES
LEGEND
Railroad Routes fet
Bus Routes Steamship Route*
ol Boundary Line State Bounoary Lin.
State Capitol \S Cities - over 53,000 population
Shore Line O Cttiee - over 20,000 population
irt Matching Line o Towne - under 20.0OO population
68 TEXAS
water connection between Houston and Galveston. Produce from the
northeast came down Cypress Bayou, across Lake Caddo to the Red
River and thence to New Orleans. Sabine Lake, though treacherously
shallow, and the Brazos, the Neches, the Sabine, and other rivers, fur
nished a modicum of transportation facilities.
The Texas Republic struggled valiantly to build roads and improve
the waterways. As early as 1839 the Treasurer paid $520 from the
nearly empty coffers of the Republic to have the Gulf harbors surveyed.
Assisted by subscriptions from the benefited areas, the State had spent
$272,000 in improving harbors and rivers by 1858. At the beginning
of the Civil War, river navigation had reached its height.
But this did not touch the inland regions. Part of the Central Na
tional Road of the Republic of Texas, which was to extend from the
Elm Fork of the Trinity to the Red River, was built through a grant
of public land, which financed it. The contract called for a road 30
feet wide in which the stumps were not to be more than 12 inches high.
But the Republic s efforts at road making did little to relieve the in
tolerable conditions of travel over trails indicated only by marked trees.
Cumbersome oxcarts, with solid wheels sawed from the trunks of cot-
tonwood trees and innocent of springs, bumped over the rutted prairies.
Vehicles with spoked wheels sank hopelessly in the mud. Unbridged
rivers with treacherous fords, quicksands, and impenetrable thickets ob
structed travel. Horses and mules bogged with their riders in the river
bottoms, and travelers frequently had to walk and lead their animals.
As the population increased, the counties gradually opened roads,
and stage lines were established between principal towns. From four
to six horses or mules drew the coach at the dizzy rate of five to eight
miles an hour. When rains poured and roads became quagmires, pas
sengers had to walk and pry mud from the wheels. The usual cost was
ten cents a mile, each passenger being allowed a small amount of hand
baggage.
The Texas Almanac of 1860 shows 31 stage lines. Traversing the
southern part of the State, the San Antonio-San Diego line crossed
1,476 miles of desert and mountains. The Southern Overland Mail
from St. Louis popularly called the Butterfield Stage Line swung
across the interminable plains in a southwesterly direction from Preston
on the Red River to El Paso, thence to San Francisco, 2,796 miles.
The intrepid drivers, passengers, and armed guards of these coaches
braved the dangers of hunger and thirst in desert stretches, bad weather
in dangerous mountain passes, robbery by desperadoes, and death from
Indians.
While the trip to California by stage took 25 to 30 days, the trans
portation of freight over these general routes was much slower. Drivers
of oxwagons traveled in caravans for mutual protection. The cost of
TRANSPORTATION 69
transportation was almost prohibitive, one dollar a hundred pounds for
a hundred miles, which explains why the Blacklands and Grand Prairie,
though marvelously fertile, remained long unsettled while the popula
tion fringed the bays and rivers of the south and east.
The most fantastic contribution to the history of transportation in
Texas was made in the spring of 1856, when a cargo of camels was
brought from Tunis, Smyrna, and Constantinople by order of Jefferson
Davis, then Secretary of War, to furnish transportation for soldiers in
the Southwest.
A khan (camel station) with Arab and Egyptian attendants was
set up at Camp Verde, but little use was made of the animals except
to help lay a road across the desert to California in 1857 (see Tour
17 A}.
Before the Civil War, Texas had thrown itself furiously into agita
tion for railroads. The beginning of actual railway construction was
in 1851, although a number of companies had been chartered earlier.
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway was the first road to
be built in Texas. By 1860, it had been built between Harrisburg and
Alleyton.
Meanwhile, construction had begun on other railroads, but it was a
period of "loud profession and little deed" in which the legislature by
special act incorporated more than 50 railroad companies and author
ized the construction of many thousands of miles of line.
The result of many grandiose plans was the actual building of 492
miles of track operated by 1 1 weak companies, the construction financed
largely by loans from the State school fund and grants of State land.
Most of the roads were attempts to reach deep water at Sabine Pass
and to connect the southwestern trade territory with Indianola and Port
Lavaca. The immense inland area of the State was as yet untouched.
The Civil War put an end to further construction and so weakened
what had already been done that the railroads, with the exception of
the Houston and Texas Central, fell into a condition of bankruptcy,
in which they remained until Texas was readmitted to the Union in
1870.
The Reconstruction period saw the cattle drives go north, as cattle
could be made to transport themselves to market (see History, also
Agriculture and Livestock).
But there was much to transport besides cattle. The frontier again
was being pushed back, and the State was agitating for railroads into
its farthermost parts. Building had begun again and with the wreckage
salvaged from the war there were 500 miles in operation by 1870, con
fined to the coastal region. In 1872, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas
entered the State from the north at Denison.
The thrill of that epochal railroad race when the Central Pacific
7O TEXAS
met the Union Pacific in Utah in 1869, thus uniting the Atlantic and
Pacific by rail, penetrated to Texas, and the race for the second trans
continental line shifted to the Southwest. All eyes were upon El
Paso, "the Pass of the North," where the coast-to-coast rails would
cross the Rocky Mountains. The Southern Pacific, building eastward
from the Colorado River, raced with Jay Gould s Texas and Pacific
Railway, to see which line would reach El Paso first. It was a railroad
war in which the contending forces were armies of workers, chiefly
Chinese, with weapons of picks and shovels, wheelbarrows and black
powder. The Southern Pacific reached El Paso May 19, 1881. The
Texas and Pacific, loser in the fight, was forced to enter into an agree
ment with the Southern Pacific for the use of the latter s trackage be
tween Sierra Blanca and El Paso.
Meanwhile, west Texas had thrown itself into a fever of mass meet
ings, subscriptions, bonuses, and gifts to entice the railroads. The In
ternational and Great Northern was building north and south from the
Red River to the Rio Grande, and the Texas and Pacific was complet
ing its westward march along the 32d parallel. The fact that Texas
had retained dominion over its public lands when it was admitted to
the Union in 1845 gave the State a public asset, apparently limitless.
But at first, grants of public lands were not sufficiently enticing to
stimulate building in such a sparsely settled region. The railroads had
to have money, so loans were made to them out of the permanent school
fund.
This plan met with public disapproval, and the railroads directed
their efforts toward securing aid through State bonds. By 1882 the
State had made provisions for granting about four times as much vacant
land as it had, other than that set aside as school land, and had actually
issued certificates for nearly eight million acres more than it possessed.
An act was passed on April 22, 1882, repealing all laws granting lands
to persons for constructing railroads, but furious construction went on.
By 1890, 8,700 miles of railroads had been built and the transportation
system had taken on the shape it has since retained.
The railroads had received a total of 24,453,000 acres, more than
38,000 square miles, an area larger than the State of Indiana. The
distribution of this vast tract of land among the 41 companies entitled
to it, the recording and plotting of the field notes, the issuing of patents,
the prevention of fraudulent locations, and the adjustment of conflict
ing claims between the companies and the immigrants who were con
stantly settling upon the lands, involved an administrative problem
without parallel in any State of the Union, and equaled only by the
problems of the Land Office of the Federal government.
Public protest over conditions believed to be unfair and in some
cases irregular brought about the submission by the legislature for
TRANSPORTATION 71
popular approval of an amendment to the State constitution authoriz
ing the establishment of a railroad commission. James Stephen Hogg
was then attorney general. He won great prominence by breaking up a
railroad pool and forcing the railroads to surrender large tracts of public
land which they held wrongfully.
In 1891 the legislature passed a law creating a railroad commission
of three men, appointed by the governor, to adopt necessary rates, to
correct abuses, and to enforce the same by penalties, the proper courts
having jurisdiction. The body has functioned to this day, though the
commissioners are now elected instead of appointed, and a few of its
powers have in recent years been taken over by the Interstate Com
merce Commission.
All this time Texas was growing. Increased business made it
acutely conscious of its lack of shipping facilities. Since only small ves
sels could enter the State s best port at Galveston, something had to be
done. By 1896, after seven years of labor and the expenditure of three
million dollars, a jetty system of immense boulders from Texas granite
hills extended from Galveston five miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
Blowing into prominence in 1901 with a tremendous oil gusher,
Beaumont clamored for deep water. Though 50 miles from the sea,
Houston devised a means for bringing the Gulf of Mexico to its doors.
By forming public navigation corporations, voting bonds and proposing
to the Federal Government to pay half the cost of the project, Houston
secured deep water in 1915, and Beaumont in 1916.
This plan has since been followed in all deep water projects, de
velopment having gone on steadily. Orange, Sabine, and Port Neches
were added to the group of ports along the Sabine-Neches Canal,
which also serves Port Arthur and Beaumont with an average channel
depth of 32 feet to the Gulf through Sabine Pass. Grouped about
Galveston Bay and Buffalo Bayou are the ports of Galveston, Houston,
Texas City, and Port Bolivar. Freeport also has completed its deep
water project.
After the hurricanes of 1875 and 1886 had wiped out the old port
of Indianola, the trade of Matagorda Bay shifted to Corpus Christi Bay.
But deep water was not secured until 1926, when Corpus Christi dug
itself out 21 miles to the sea. Port Aransas and Ingleside are grouped
along this deep water channel, with its average depth of 32 feet.
Port Isabel and Brownsville are the latest deep water ports to be
developed, the work having been finished at Port Isabel in 1935 and at
Brownsville in 1936. These ports opened to world shipping the prod
uce of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Mexico responded to the de
velopment and announced a five million peso program of improvement
of tracks from Monterrey to Matamoros.
All Texas ports will ultimately be connected by the Intracoastal
72 TEXAS
Canal of Louisiana and Texas with the entire Mississippi-Ohio water
way system. The canalization of the Trinity and possibly other rivers
may follow.
Railroad building continued until Texas railroads owned 16,597
miles of first main line trackage in 1938 and a total of 22,649 miles of
tracks of all descriptions, giving Texas the largest track mileage of any
State.
But since 1910, more emphasis has been placed upon the construc
tion of highways than on any other phase of transportation. In 1939
Texas spent $48,211,350 on highways. The funds for construction and
maintenance are obtained chiefly from a gasoline tax of four cents a
gallon, two cents of which goes to the Highway Department. State
highways in 1940 covered 23,194 miles of improved roads, of which
14,679 were Federal aid highways.
The modern successor of the stagecoach the motor bus has
grown to be the third largest passenger transportation industry in
Texas, exceeded in capital investment and annual revenue only by the
railroads. Over the State from six interior centers of population
Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, Dallas, and Fort Worth run
20,832 route miles operated by 94 bus companies.
Scores of motor freight lines operate over the State. These, as
well as the passenger bus lines, are regulated by the Texas Railroad
Commission.
Texas early came into prominence in aviation on account of the
excellent flying conditions, the general smoothness of the air, and the
wide, level flying fields everywhere available. Before these conditions
became definitely known and before the Wright brothers made their
epochal flight, two mechanics of Beaumont, Johnson and Siefert, worked
(1899) on an elaborate plan for a "genuine airship," which, however,
never left the ground.
In September, 1909, Harold D. Hahl of Houston devised a plane
of scraps of junk, pieces of a blimp he had tried to build, and an Eagle
motor, using pictures of the Wright brothers planes as a model. In this
contrivance, he made a successful flight of three and a half miles. The
next March, Lieutenant Benjamin D. Foulois, a student of the Wright
brothers, made three successful flights at Fort Sam Houston, San An
tonio. His experiments with his once-cracked-up Wright plane resulted
in improvements adopted by the army, including landing wheels. He
was the first flyer to use them.
Though flying circuses gave exhibitions over the State, it was not
until the World War made the country flying conscious that schools of
aviation were established. Eddie, Katherine, and Marjorie Stinson,
assisted by their mother, part dreamer, part automobile mechanic, opened
the Stinson School of Flying in San Antonio in 1915.
TRANSPORTATION
73
The three youngsters were experienced aviators by then, and soon
had a group of young students about them. Fourteen Canadians re
ceived their preliminary training at the Stinson Flying School before
going into the British Air Forces. Katherine became an exhibition
flyer and made a tour of China and Japan, giving the first exhibition
flights ever seen there. Eddie Stinson became a flying instructor at
Kelly Field after the United States entered the war.
Since those pioneer days, large military training centers for aviation
have been located at Randolph Field, Kelly Field, and Brooks Field, all
in the vicinity of San Antonio. Commercial aviation has developed
rapidly and the State is now served by two transcontinental air lines,
one international, while numerous lines make interstate connections.
Airports total 133, including 13 maintained by the army. Fourteen air
ports are equipped for night flying.
Towns and cities are becoming as conscious of the need of airports
as of parking lots. Fields for army and transient planes are provided by
towns not on the regular air lines.
Agriculture and Livestock
A THOUGH the plow is encroaching upon the range with steadily
increasing persistence, Texas still has two distinct rural indus
tries: agriculture, including crop farming and combination crop
and stock farming, and ranching. In many sections ranches are being
rapidly broken up into farms, but approximately 80,000,000 acres of
Texas lands are best suited to the production of livestock, and on the
J 37>597>389 acres owned by farmers a large part of these lands is
necessarily devoted to that industry. Particularly in the western half
of the State, the traditions and general characteristics of ranching remain
inviolate and the "wide open spaces" of the cattlemen untouched. Crop
estimates give Texas second place in the United States in the value of
farm crops, although the State ranks first in the number of farms and
the number of persons engaged in farming.
Thus, both crop farming and the production of livestock are
enormous industries, with a total cash farm income, including Govern
ment payments, of $510,655,000 at the last estimate (1938), and an
annual average shipment of 2,000,000 head of cattle from the State. It
is estimated that 19,395,000 cattle, sheep and goats graze on Texas
farms and ranches.
With the great diversity of natural conditions, agriculture and
ranching early claimed the sections of the State best adapted to their
needs. Thus in the river valleys of eastern Texas the Caddoes had cul
tivated plots around their villages, and on the northern plains the
Comanches early had horses. So sharp was the cleavage between farm-
74
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 75
ing and ranching in Texas that only since the beginning of the present
century have cattlemen shown any decided tendency to plant feed crops
for their stock, or farmers a desire to increase their cattle to an extent
beyond domestic needs. And even with the number of stock farms in
the State today, there are localities in which, because of geographic or
climatic circumstances, farming or ranching is practiced exclusively.
In Texas, even though stock farming is decidedly on the increase in
almost every section, the history and the story of agriculture and ranch
ing become separate topics.
FARMING
Because of its area and great regional variation in soil and climate,
there are few important crops which cannot be grown successfully in
Texas, from wheat in the temperate north to citrus fruits in the sub
tropical south. Since the entrance into Texas in the iSao s of immi
grants from the southern United States who brought their slaves and
settled largely along the rivers and creeks in what is now the eastern,
southeastern and central parts of the State, cotton raising has been the
major agricultural industry.
Jared Groce first planted cotton on a commercial basis in Texas and
hence has been called the Father of Texas Agriculture. As early as
1825 he had built a cotton gin, and slave labor cultivated his plantation
on the banks of the Brazos (famous in history as the spot from which
1 1 years later, Sam Houston started the forced march which ended with
the defeat and capture of Santa Anna). In 1823 the shipment of cotton
by water to New Orleans was established, and 5,000 bales exported.
Earlier, several large tribes and confederations of Indians had
planted fields of maize and squash which supported populous villages;
and the monks had brought agricultural equipment to mission outposts.
In their carefully guarded fields the missionaries "planted the soil,
watered the crops . . . and gathered in the grain. . . . The women
and children carded the cotton and spun it on malacates, the primitive
Indian spindles, and men who had learned the art wove this into cloth.
The natives worked so slowly and carefully, however, that it was
necessary to have a Spanish overseer constantly on hand, and even so,
four native laborers were not equal to one European. Each mission
raised corn and beans sufficient for its needs."
The primary motive for immigration into Texas was free or cheap
land and the opportunities it offered. Although immigration was not
confined to the agricultural class, the isolation from sources of supply
made some farm operation necessary for most of the settlers. An excerpt
from an old letter shows one of their handicaps: "I hired a young man
... to live with me. . . . We would take our guns with us to the
76 TEXAS
field to plough, and we would leave one gun at one end of the rows and
one at the other; then we ploughed so that he would be at one end and
I at the other, so that they" (the Indians) "could not cut us off from
both our guns."
Yet by 1833 Stephen F. Austin reported to the Mexican govern
ment that there were 30 cotton gins in the municipalities of San Felipe
de Austin and Brazoria, and that the Texas cotton crop of that year
would amount to about 7,500 bales. During the days of the Texas
Republic its fast-increasing importance as a cotton growing country is
credited with having been a major factor in the friendliness of England
and in the change of United States sentiment as to the advisability of
Texas annexation.
With the abolition of slavery and the chaotic conditions that fol
lowed the Civil War, cotton production decreased by 50 per cent.
Then the overflow of immigrants, particularly to the Blacklands,
brought cotton back to its old place of importance. As the population
increased, landowners split vast tracts into smaller ones and rented them.
Cotton was the "money crop" and it was also a labor crop, as no success
ful mechanical picker had been invented. The poor white and Negro
farmers put their families in the fields. Soon there were white as well
as Negro tenants, and Negro as well as white farmers.
The number of farms in Texas increased 185 per cent during the
1 870*3. By 1880 the rural population was 1,455,967, as compared with
a total population of 1,591,749. In 1890 the rural population of the
State was 84.4 per cent of the whole. Cotton remained the big crop.
It was not until 1900 that the real advance of the farmers upon the
Plains began. The distance had been incredibly great, the Indians
hostile, and the land unfriendly. Into this "treeless, desolate waste"
the farmers followed the railroads, digging wells and erecting windmills
to combat scarcity of rainfall and prolonged droughts. It was not until
then that extensive development of grain crops in Texas started, al
though corn had been a staple food and feed crop of the early settlers.
The World War so stimulated the demand for wheat that, in the five
years following, the number of farms in the Plains region increased 48
per cent. Wind erosion set in after native buffalo grass had been plowed
up, and State and Federal forestry services and the Civilian Conserva
tion Corps have had to fight against it. Notwithstanding the con
tinuing dust storms, the wheat production increased from 11,500,000
bushels in 1935 to 41,690,000 bushels in 1937. The 1938 crop was
35,046,000 bushels, most of it from the Plains. This and other crops
have transformed the "great Sahara" of Texas into a vast granary.
Although diversification of crops has long been increasing, so that a
year of cotton crop failure is not so devastating to Texas as once it was,
cotton is still the mainstay of the State s agricultural and economic life.
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 77
Texas easily leads the cotton growing States; it furnished 32.14 per
cent of the Nation s cotton crop over the ten-year period immediately
before the Federal crop reduction program of 1933, the average yield
being 4,633,000 bales.
About 90 per cent of Texas cotton farmers participated in voluntary
control programs of the Federal cotton acreage adjustment plan. Texas
cotton acreage declined from an average of 15,598,000 acres in the
1928-32 period, to an average of 11,057,000 acres during the next four
years of adjustment programs. Thus cotton acreage in the State was
reduced 29 per cent, and production declined 28 per cent, but in con
junction with other influences, such as dollar devaluation and general
recovery, total cotton income increased 38 per cent. The income per
bale rose 14 per cent, and the buying power of cotton increased from
47 per cent in 1932 to 100 per cent in 1936. The 1938 crop amounted
to 3,086,000 bales of 500 pounds each. The seed yield from cotton in
1938 was valued at $28,778,000.
Texas usually leads in corn production in the Southern States, with
an estimated crop of more than 75^2 million bushels in 1938. The
grain sorghum crop yield was 38,115,000 bushels in 1939. Other
grains, including oats, barley, and rye, are of considerable importance;
in 1938 the oat crop was 36,920,000 bushels, and the yield in barley
was 2,363,000 bushels. Rice growing has become a large industry (see
Tour 5c). Texas produced 13,668,000 bushels of rice in 1938. The
sorghum crop yield was 1,692,000 tons of forage and hay, plus vast
quantities of silage. The 1938 yield of tame and wild hay totaled
1,297,000 tons.
The horticultural possibilities of Texas, while barely utilized, never
theless include extensive citrus production. Along the Lower Rio
Grande Valley, under irrigation, impenetrable chaparral jungles of the
past have given way to orchards of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and
limes. The census of trees for 1937 showed 5,087,968 bearing grape
fruit and 1,594,635 bearing orange trees in this region. The 1938-39
citrus fruit crop in Texas yielded an estimated 2,815,000 boxes of
oranges and 15,670,000 boxes of grapefruit. Every vegetable known
to temperate and semitropical climates is produced, notably cabbages,
string beans, beets, cucumbers, onions, and carrots. In the Winter
Garden area (Maverick, Frio, La Salle, Zavala, and Dimmit Coun
ties), artesian water has made possible the production of huge truck
crops. In 1938 shipments of fresh spinach reached 4,000,000 bushels,
at an average price of 30 cents a bushel. For commercial canning, 9,600
tons were used, at about $10 a ton. The "spinach capital of the United
States," Crystal City, is a shipping center for the district.
The tomato crop has passed the $4,000,000 mark; Irish potatoes
average more than $3,000,000, sweet potatoes, $3,402,000 (in 1939),
78 TEXAS
watermelons and cantaloupes, more than $1,000,000, peanuts, $3,276,000
0938), peaches, almost $2,000,000. Apples, pears, plums, grapes, and
berries are widely produced, and the almost perfect adaptation of the
pecan has resulted in widespread planting. The pecan crop is possibly
the oldest in Texas, as nuts of this type have been found in ancient
geological formations, and the great pecan trees along Texas rivers
inspired many comments from earliest explorers. The State produces
about 50 per cent of the Nation s pecan crop. The 1938 crop totaled
23,000,000 pounds, valued at $1,702,000.
More than 100 crops of all kinds are grown in the State, many
being produced on a very limited scale, such as almonds, olives, cactus
(the latter used commercially in making candy), papayas, guavas,
quinces, and avocados. One of the most interesting horticultural indus
tries is the rose crop, centering in and around Smith County (see Tour
5b). Tung nut trees are being planted in southeastern Texas for the
nut oil, used in varnish and lacquer. Authorities agree that the horti
cultural possibilities of the State, if developed, might equal the almost
universal success achieved with field crops and livestock.
Because the normal Texas rainfall, varying from about 55 inches
on the east coast to less than ten inches in the west, is sufficient for the
growing of the important crops in the eastern, central, and southern
parts and some special crops in the remainder of the State, irrigation
has not been practiced except in relatively small areas. However, in
1940 several major projects were under construction to increase ma
terially the acreage under irrigation (see Resources and their Conserva
tion Water}.
In almost every locality, farming and livestock production are found
together. The farmer uses his surplus land for stock, and the ranchman
utilizes tillable land to raise feed for cattle. Stock farming has increased
tremendously since ranchmen discovered that the growing of hay and
small grains, in areas where other farming would be impracticable,
releases them from the necessity of dependence upon grass. Beef cattle
production was until recent years almost entirely confined to the large
ranches, but the adoption of diversification as a farm policy has spread
the breeding of beef cattle to the smallest farms of central Texas and
other thickly populated areas where marketing conditions are encour
aging.
The most important phase of stock farming is dairying. Although
Texas has long been a producer of livestock, dairying is a fairly recent
development. Early settlers brought only enough dairy stock for their
immediate needs. In the past, lack of markets and the one-crop system
discouraged extensive dairying. An old time cowboy considered it an
insult to be asked to milk a cow, and canned milk was used on many
farms and ranches.
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 79
However, by 1930 the milk production in Texas had become
412,707,814 gallons for the year, and an annual average production of
more than 400 million gallons has been maintained ever since. The
growth of urban population contributed more than any other condition
to this increase. Another factor was the rapidity of modern transporta
tion, which has permitted this industry to develop in hitherto isolated
regions.
The establishment of a large number of milk processing and dis
tribution plants during the period from 1920-1936 has also stimulated
dairying in the State; almost every large agricultural region now is
served by a plant. Jerseys are the favorite stock, although there are
many Holsteins and a few Guernseys. Texas ranks fourth among the
States in the number of milk cattle. Milk, cream, butterfat, and butter
are the principal products, the manufacture of cheese being secondary.
In 1939, the total value of farm livestock, including horses and
mules, was estimated to be $342,494,000. Raising horses and mules
usually is a secondary industry on Texas farms. However, the demand
for saddle horses is continual because of the State s ranching industry.
Horses are as closely linked with the history of Texas as gold with
that of the Pacific coast. Without horses the cattle industry would
never have been. Without horses it would be impossible to conduct the
huge fenced ranches that have developed. The first settlers found
herds of wild horses, mustangs, descended from stock brought into the
State by Spanish explorers. These mustangs were the first mounts of
the Texans. In 1938 Texas ranked second among the States in the
number of horses. On January I, 1939, there was an estimated total
of 679,000 head.
One of the earliest industries was the business of hunting and trap
ping wild horses. Using the mustangs as foundation stock, breeders
have developed several types of mounts notable for their agility and
stamina. The Steeldust was developed by fusing the mustang and the
thoroughbred, for use as a cow pony; and polo ponies with mustang
blood have won national recognition.
Gillespie, Llano, and San Saba Counties lead in the production of
horses and mules, comparing favorably with any region in the United
States. Usually this industry is conducted on small stock farms. Since
about 1932 large horse and mule markets have developed in San Antonio
and Forth Worth, thus stimulating the industry. In 1939, mules and
mule colts in the State were estimated to number 687,000.
An important adjunct to agriculture in many sections of Texas is
the raising of hogs. The Austin colonists found large numbers of wild
swine in the east Texas forests, and the "razorback" variety was an
important item in the colonial diet. In more recent years swine pro-
80 TEXAS
duction has decreased, due probably to a fluctuating corn crop. The
number of hogs is estimated to be 1,820,000, valued at $14,319,000.
Under the stimulus of modern poultry plants, the industry is in
creasing. Two large poultry shows are held annually in Dallas, and
others are held in producing centers. These, and the increasing demand
of farmers for better breeding stock have led to the development of fine
fowls, principally Leghorns, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and Rhode Island
Reds. At the beginning of 1939 the United States Department of Agri
culture estimated there were about 24,535,000 chickens in Texas, valued
at $13,004,000, and that the egg revenue of 1938 was $21,920,000.
Texas is the leading turkey producing State. The 1938 sale of
turkeys amounted to $6,306,000. Agricultural Marketing Service re
ports for 1939 indicated an increase of 22 per cent in the turkey crop,
with an estimated 3,843,000 birds. The Turkey Trot, held at Cuero, is
widely known (see Tour 7d). Many fine birds sold for breeding
purposes are shipped to northern farmers. The average yearly produc
tion is about 1,344 carloads of turkeys for northern and eastern markets.
The flora of Texas is particularly well adapted to beekeeping, and
honey production is a leading industry in several sections. Five dis
tricts, determined by flora, produce large amounts of honey: the Rio
Grande, the arid belt, the cotton belt, the east Texas region, and the
Pecos country. The major honey bee plants are horsemint, cotton,
mesquite, huajillo, and catclaw. Next to California, Texas has the
largest number of commercial beekeepers. The shipping of bees to the
north in combless packages has also become an important special in
dustry. Many devote their time to the raising of queen bees to be
shipped to northern beekeepers. The annual average honey production
is in excess of 4,000,000 pounds.
Several powerful agencies are constantly at work in the State to
improve the social and economic aspects of farm life. Chief among
these are the office of the State Commissioner of Agriculture, where
regulatory measures originate, the Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Texas at College Station, a vital educational influence, various
branches of the United States Department of Agriculture, and such
agencies as rural churches, rural libraries, the press, and county Home
Demonstration work. The latter is a branch of cooperative activities
of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is a tremendous factor
in the general improvement of rural living conditions.
The State has several serious agricultural problems. The share
system of farming still obtains, with attendant evils. In Texas, as in
other States, cotton has fostered the tenant farmer. In 1935 there were
76,468 sharecroppers, a decrease since 1930, when there were 105,122.
Much of the State s available farm land is tilled by tenants and more
than half of the 501,017 farms are rented, operated, or managed by
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 8l
tenants, including sharecroppers. More than 1,500 farms contain in
excess of 10,000 acres. Foreign-born tenants, other than Mexicans, are
relatively few in number over the State and present no problem. Most
of the seasonal farm labor is Mexican or Negro, and many of these
seasonal workers are recurrently tenants.
Counties in east, south, and east central Texas have a large propor
tion of Negro farm owners and tenants. Farm ownership is increasing
among them, but living conditions, although steadily improving, are
often undesirable.
One of the largest farm labor problems of the State is that of the
floating Mexican population which increases tremendously at harvest
time, particularly when the cotton crop is ready to be picked. Thou
sands of Mexicans cross the Rio Grande under a special arrangement
with the Department of Labor, and migrate to the great cotton areas,
where they live in tents or by the side of the road, usually in the most
unsanitary and impoverished manner. Yet because of the gradually
decreasing Negro farm labor element, and the scarcity of white farm
laborers, the migratory Mexican population is considered necessary.
All this, however, is the darker side of the picture. The number of
farm owners in Texas increased to 211,440 in 1935, as against 190,515
in 1930. Many farm owners rent additional land, and there are many
farmers who, though tenants, live in well-built and attractive homes,
have labor-saving devices, books and magazines, electricity, and, fre
quently, natural gas.
Some of the grave problems of tenant farmers in Texas have been
at least partly solved ; better roads, better schools, and the improvement
of health conditions in rural sections (the latter through the efforts of
the State Board of Health), are outstanding accomplishments. The
tenant, like his landlord, is learning to grow what he needs to live on,
and county Farm and Home Demonstration agents are teaching both
to scientifically produce and preserve what they raise.
In regard to agricultural education the State is both advanced and
forward-looking. The School of Agriculture of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas has a larger number of undergraduates
pursuing four-year courses in agriculture and a larger student body in
attendance than any other college of its kind in the world. In the
opinion of many authorities it is closer than any other such institution
to the agricultural life of the people.
Through its Extension Service, the college carries out local farm
programs, usually in its substations, also through agents and free litera
ture. Field experiment stations in 16 sections, where practical research
is conducted for the benefit of local farmers, have solved many problems
and developed many new crops. The results of these agricultural
experiments are printed and distributed widely. Bulletins are also
82 TEXAS
distributed by the State Department of Agriculture, which co-operates
with the Agricultural and Mechanical College in educational activities.
Boys and Girls Four-H Clubs are sponsored by the college, which
awards prizes, and aids in conducting annual field meets and exhibits.
The training of youth on the farm is a major project. County fairs are
encouraged, and exert widespread influence in promoting the production
of better farm products. There is even a laboratory under the super
vision of the college for the study of honey production, situated in the
heart of the beekeeping region. The pink bollworm, the flea hopper,
and other Texas farm pests are combated by corps of workers in the
agricultural substations.
Another important factor in the agricultural life of the State is the
Luling Foundation. Here practical demonstration of all farm problems
in an unusual farm institution has proved of steadily increasing value
(see Tour 23b). Both the livestock industry and agriculture are
benefited by the research, experimentation, and demonstration work of
the various educational agencies.
Organizations calculated to aid the tenant and the one-crop farmer
are numerous in Texas. In addition to the large organizations are
group movements. In Waco, for example, in 1927 a group of business
men decided to advance living conditions for local farmers. They found
that less than one-third of the farmers had dairy cattle or sufficient
poultry. Waco bankers financed the buying of dairy stock, and a
co-operative poultry shipping service was established, which encouraged
larger poultry production. The Southern Tenant Farmers Union has
several chapters in the State.
Agrarian movements began early in Texas (see History). The
Grange was the first permanent organization, and the Farmers Alliance
had its origin in the State. The Farmers Union early became a factor
in Texas agriculture. County units have been sponsored by the Texas
Farm Bureau Federation, which is active in marketing, crop rotation,
and similar activities.
LIVESTOCK
More, perhaps, than any other single symbol, the longhorn steer
represents Texas. The cattle industry played a leading part in the
development of the State, for it gave the State its first great business,
and grew until Texas has first place in beef production in the Nation.
On the dusty trails of the seventies and eighties the cattle industry of
this country was born, and those trails started in Texas. The great
ranches, some of them as large as Old World kingdoms, are still flung
across the plains and over the mountains. There were 7,222,000 cattle
at the last census, with an estimated 6,955,000 in 1939, valued at
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 83
$179,439,000. More than two million head are shipped annually to
northern markets.
In Texas, as in other regions, the livestock industry has changed.
Cattle kings no longer "take cold if they re not wearing a six-shooter."
The cattle in early days were "tough to eat and tougher to handle,"
with horns that often had a spread of five or six feet. Today they are
not longhorns but, largely, Shorthorns and Herefords, crossed with
Brahmas. Where once the only pedigree needed was a brand, now
ancestry is all-important. Only a few real longhorns remain, survivors
of the early herds that built the State s first fortunes.
Development of the cattle industry can be divided into four periods.
First, that of the introduction of Spanish cattle and the development
of the wild native Texas longhorn ; second, the east Texas period in
which the modern ranch appeared; third, the era of the trail drives,
when the modern cattle industry began ; and fourth, the development of
the western part of the State as a ranching stronghold.
The first cattle known to have entered Texas were 500 cows
brought by Coronado in 1541. Many of the explorers, fearing a food
shortage in an unknown land, brought livestock. Some of these cattle
escaped and wandered through the wilderness, to become the nucleus
of vast wild herds.
The Spanish colonists found a natural pasto, or pasture, covering
southwest Texas. Reynosa, in 1757, with a population of 269, had
18,000 head of cattle. De Mezieres (1779) reported that a fat cow
was worth only four pesos, yet the ranches flourished. Herds were
driven to market in Louisiana by Spanish ranchers in defiance of cus
toms laws. Thus, probably the first smuggling in the State was that of
cattle. Owners marked their stock when possible, but most of the
cattle were unbranded. The wild herds were not molested by the
Indians, who preferred the meat of the buffalo.
It was in east Texas that modern ranching began. James Taylor
White, the first real Anglo-American cattleman, established the first
ranch of the modern type near Turtle Bayou in Chambers County (see
Tour 23a). Other ranchers followed White to east Texas. They
drove their herds to New Orleans to market, using the Old Beef Trail
and others. Hides and tallow still had more value than beef.
The most important event to pioneer Texas cattlemen was the
introduction of Brahma or Zebu cattle from India, a variety scientifi
cally designated as Bos Indicus and differing radically from the Euro
pean variety of Bos Taurus. It was not until after the Civil War that
Brahmas were secured in large numbers. The first record of a success
ful crossing of these cattle with native stock was in 1874 when Captain
Mifflin Kenedy experimented with his herds (see Tour 9c). Fever
ticks had been a barrier to the introduction of Hereford, Shorthorn and
84 TEXAS
other beef breeds in the coastal and southern area. The Brahmas and
cattle produced by crossing them with other breeds proved to be immune
from tick fever, and were also better beef cattle. As ticks have never
been eradicated from some sections, Brahma blood is still essential to
the State s livestock industry.
By 1860 there were more than three million head of cattle in Texas.
The Union blockade prevented the shipment of large herds to supply
the Confederate army, and at the close of the Civil War the State was
overrun with cattle, many of them wild.
Longhorns were almost worthless in 1866. Range animals sold for
$3 and $4 a head, although in the North butchers were paying from
$30 to $40 a head for beeves. Everyone had cattle and nobody had
wealth.
And in Texas, especially in the brush country, wild native stock had
flourished. Here the Texas cowboy had emerged. There also were
vaqueros (cowpunchers, from vaca, meaning cow), who were Mexicans.
Both of these classes of cowboys had learned to pursue "strays" through
the densest thickets. The term "maverick" had come into being as a
synonym for unbranded cattle (see Tour 22b) , and there were countless
herds of longhorns, too valueless to be branded. Obviously, the thing
to do was to drive the herds to shipping points. Yet the nearest rail
roads were in Kansas and Missouri, 1,000 to 1,500 miles distant.
A few adventurous spirits led the way across those untried miles to
the railheads, in the late sixties. Trails, some of them bearing the
names of the men who blazed them, came into being, such as the
Chisholm Trail. Abilene, Kansas, became a roaring cowtown, followed
by Dodge City and other shipping points that sprang up in the wake of
the mighty movement of cattle. No other industry in the Southwest
had such economic significance or such picturesque aspects. The driving
of herds caused towns, customs, and a distinct type of people to grow up
beside the trails (see Tour Ha). About five million Texas cattle were
driven to market during the 15 years of trail driving, yet when the
railroads reached Texas and the drives were no longer necessary, there
were more cattle in the State than when the drives began.
As a result of the drives, ranchmen forged forward in undeveloped
regions, establishing ranches not only in uninhabited parts of Texas but
on the plains of the Middle West, in the Northwest and in the Indian
Territory, now Oklahoma. With the cattle drives the Texas cowboy
became a national figure, with his ten-gallon hat, high-cantled saddle,
his wiry little pony (usually a native Texas mustang), and his peculiar
vernacular.
Indians, buffaloes, and lack of water had barred cattlemen from the
Plains. The Indians were finally placed on reservations and the
buffaloes were slaughtered. A few bold men drove their herds into
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 85
the Panhandle in the 1870*8. Others followed and thus began a new
epoch in the industry. Colonel Charles Goodnight established the first
large ranch in the Panhandle in 1876. He later experimented with
crossbreeding buffaloes and Shorthorns, calling the product cattaloes,
but the animal thus produced was not satisfactory. A few cattaloes
are still seen on Panhandle ranches, but they are kept chiefly as
curiosities.
Water had always been a problem on the Plains. Windmills solved
this difficulty.
In the early days grass was free and the only property ranchers
owned was horses and cattle. Each rancher claimed grazing rights for
as much land as he could use. Although they had no title to their
so-called holdings, ranchmen were willing to enforce their claims with
six-shooters.
The period from the early seventies to about 1885 was the heyday
of the Texas cattleman. All he needed to start a thriving business was
a few cows. In 1882 there began a rush to the range; men flocked to
Texas from all parts of the world to buy ranches, lured by tales of big,
quick profits. English earls became cattle barons (see Tour 16a).
Naturally, such conditions could not last. The bubble burst in
1885. A drought on badly overstocked land had tragic consequences.
One rancher left 15,000 head of cattle dead on the parched range.
There was a rush to dispose of cattle, prices tumbled, many ranchers
were bankrupt. Those who survived saw that a new day had dawned
in the cattle business. The range had to be conserved, and to be con
served it had to be fenced. To be fenced it had to be owned. Follow
ing the invention of barbed wire in 1874, sample fences were built in
many parts of the State. Range animals soon learned to stop at barbed
wire fences, and the new invention was rapidly adopted by Texas cattle
men. In 1884 the XIT Ranch enclosed 3,050,000 acres.
When the large ranches were fenced, complications arose. Many
had enclosed State school lands or lands belonging to the railroads, for
surveys had not been the order of the day. There was a continuation
of the strife caused earlier by the "nesters" the ranchman s name for
the farmers when they fenced their small holdings. The Fence-cutting
War was a stormy interlude in the cattle industry (see History).
Ranchers who had fences needed less help to handle their herds; the
great tracts were divided into pastures, and grass was conserved by
range rotation. The herds were separated into breeding groups and
better stock was produced. Thus the longhorn steer was doomed,
making way for a better animal. Within a few years longhorns were
so scarce that zoos collected them. One of the few remaining small
herds is that in Brackenridge Park, San Antonio.
As the farmers advanced westward across Texas, ranchmen sud-
86 TEXAS
denly found their land valuable and sold it, or they found themselves
crowded, and moved. The trans-Pecos region and the extreme western
plains became the cowman s stronghold. Here the industry still thrives.
In 1906 the peak of production was reached with 9,500,000 head of
cattle. By 1919 the number had decreased to 5,318,000. An abrupt
increase was shown from 1930-35, chiefly because of the reduction of
cotton acreage. Whereas, in the days of the open range, all cattle were
range-fed, the introduction of barbed wire necessitated the increasing
practice of forage feeding, and with limited range facilities in large
areas, many ranchmen have turned to raising their own forage crops.
This circumstance has resulted in the newer type of rancher who is both
cattleman and farmer.
The cattleman still wears the ten-gallon hat and high-heeled boots,
but he is a businessman, and his acreage, though smaller than in the
early days, pays larger dividends because one Hereford steer brings on
the market more than the price of three longhorns.
The cowboy also has changed. He oils windmills and keeps fences
in repair. He rides in an automobile, often with his horse in a trailer;
even the duties of the fence rider (ranch hand who examines and repairs
fences) are often performed in this manner. But the Texas cowboy,
like the rancher, is still the same at heart. The range is still his home.
Texas ranks first in the United States in the production of wool.
Sheep raising began with the Spanish missions, but not until after the
cattlemen had become firmly entrenched did sheep ranching develop.
The war between sheep rancher and cattleman was bitter and long, but
there are 9,646,000 head of sheep on Texas ranges, and the annual wool
clip between 1928-1937 averaged 58,061,000 pounds. The 79,305,000
pounds clipped in 1938 was valued at $23,509,000.
The sheep country is in the rugged, semi-arid region of the south
west. Some cattlemen have combined sheep and cattle raising, as sheep
thrive on forage that cattle do not eat. But big pastures are not a
feature of the sheep country. Favorite breeds are the Rambouillet, a
large animal of the Merino variety, and in the hill country, the Delaine,
a smaller animal with long fine wool. Many ranchers use Hampshire
rams for crossing with the fine wool breeds for the production of lambs
for market. Texas wool is of good quality, comparing favorably with
that of Australia and South America. Most of it is used in the United
States. San Angelo and Kerrville are the big wool markets.
Three-fourths of the mohair produced in the Nation is shorn in
Texas from approximately 3,372,000 Angora goats that browse in a
brushy region of low-priced land. Government reports show that in
1939 the Texas clip totaled 15,960,000 pounds, valued at $7,820,000,
of the total of 18,709,000 pounds of mohair produced in the United
States. The Angora goat within a few years has changed what was
AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK 87
considered waste land into valuable pastures. The first Angoras were
introduced into Texas in 1858. Ranchers rushed to import breeding
stock; and the Sultan of Turkey, who had inadvertently caused the
importation to this country, placed an embargo on Angoras, too late.
They already were being obtained from South Africa and South
America.
However, Angoras were rare and expensive and ranchers used the
bucks to cross with native Mexican does. The animal thus produced
was commercially a success and by increasing the Angora strain, ranchers
within a few years had developed a type that was larger and hardier
than the imported stock, yet matched the pure-bred Angora in the
texture and length of mohair. The largest goat-ranching region lies in
the roughest part of Texas in a group of counties centering approxi
mately around Rocksprings and Kerrville. Goats are sheared twice a
year and each produces on an average somewhat more than four pounds
of mohair. Uvalde is an important mohair market.
Large numbers of goats are sold for slaughter, yet, strangely enough,
markets do not offer goat meat and goat chops appear on no menu. One
of the difficulties with popularizing this meat is that, unless the goat is
rather young the flesh is likely to be somewhat strong and tough ; tender
young goat meat compares favorably with lamb. In the goat country,
this meat is a staple item of diet. It is relished especially by Mexicans,
the kids, called cabritos, being considered a great delicacy. Goat raisers
a few years ago attempted to popularize the meat and adopted the
name "chevon" to distinguish it from mutton. But the campaign failed,
and cabrito is still a sectional dish, as well known to the remainder of
Texas as the tamale, yet as seldom eaten by the average citizen.
Racial Elements
PEOPLE of Texas derive from many stocks. There have been
immigrants for four centuries; at least 35 nations have con
tributed to the present citizenship, of which approximately one-
half has been added since 1900 and one-sixth in the past ten years.
The 1930 census showed 426,293 people of foreign white stock
(exclusive of Mexicans) and more than 900,000 Texans who were born
in other States. With Mexicans included, 19 per cent of the population
is of foreign white stock. The native white population, including
Mexicans, constitutes 85.2 per cent of the total, and without the
Mexicans is 71.9 per cent, as compared w T ith 57 per cent for the
Nation.
Naturally, the State s population is predominately Anglo-American;
Texas history, culture, character and progress have been shaped pri
marily by this group. In west central and northwest Texas the people
are almost entirely native-born white. After the establishment of the
Austin colony in the i82o s, settlers from the United States came in
steadily increasing numbers, at first primarily to secure cheap land and
greater opportunity. Of the States that have contributed to the popula
tion, Tennessee leads, with Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi follow
ing. Since 1920 the migration from the United States has been largely
from the North.
Of Indians, first of the racial elements in Texas, only a remnant of
the Alabama and Cooshatti tribes remains, with a few Piros and Tiguas
RACIAL ELEMENTS 89
near El Paso, and at Fort Clark a small group whose ancestors were
Seminole and Negro.
The Spanish monks and conquistadores left a lasting imprint upon
architecture, art, and music, and certain areas retain authentic Spanish
tendencies. In San Antonio, for example, are descendants of Canary
Island settlers of 1731. Among the older so-called Mexican families
from San Antonio south to the Rio Grande, Spanish blood often pre
dominates.
The State s largest single division of foreign white stock is that of
Mexican origin: the Federal census of 1930 gave Mexicans a separate
classification and listed 683,681 (11.7 per cent), of whom about three-
fourths were foreign born.
There are three principal classes of Texas Mexicans. In the older
cities and localities, a relatively small group possesses strong traditions
of family and culture, usually of Spanish origin. A widespread new
middle class, recruited from both the upper and lower strata, has homes,
standards of living, and businesses equal to those of any element. From
this group have developed the League of United Latin American Citi
zens and the League of Loyal Latin Americans, organizations designed
to improve conditions generally among Texas Mexicans, and to foster
ideals of American citizenship among Mexicans and amicable relations
between the two peoples.
The third social stratum is that of the peon. These Mexicans crowd
city slums or live as tenants or hands on farms and ranches. In the
cities, this class is often used as the balance of power in machine politics,
and unwittingly is a powerful factor in government. Although there
are many Texas-Mexican landowners along the Rio Grande, the vast
majority of Mexicans south of the Nueces River exist in a system not
unlike medieval feudalism (see Tour 9c) .
In handicrafts, such as pottery, the Texas Mexicans excel, and their
influence has been great in music, art, and architecture. Cheap Mexican
labor is an important economic factor in agriculture and in the garment
manufacturing and other piece work industries.
During the 1820 $ and 1830*3 the Irish empresarios, Power and
Hewetson, McMullen and McGloin, brought colonists to an isolated
and Indian-infested region between the Lavaca and Nueces Rivers, near
the coast. Here, almost as soon as the settlements had been made, the
storm of the Texas Revolution broke in the heart of the Irish holdings,
and active was the participation of the colony in that and every military
expedition and war in the State s history. It was not until 1900 that
the predominately Irish counties of San Patricio, Refugio, Aransas, Bee,
and Goliad began a period of rapid economic growth. Soldiers, politi
cians, and writers have been the contribution of the Irish in Texas.
There are 22,921 of this nationality (1930 census).
9O TEXAS
Political disturbances in the 1840 $ drove many Germans to seek
new lands where, possibly, an ideal German state might be established.
Persecuted by the Diet of the German Confederation, members of the
Burschenschaften or student s organization began to come to Texas.
Soon the lure of economic betterment had attracted the German masses.
Immigration societies were formed for the assistance of these voluntary
exiles, and among them was the Society for the Protection of German
Immigrants in Texas, which fostered several colonies in the State (see
Tours 24b and 8c) . In the German communities of south central and
southwestern Texas the customs and culture of the founders survive,
their greatest contribution being in music, painting, literature, and
quaint colonial architecture. The Germans early had schools, singing
societies, and social organizations, a literary society in the 1850*5, and
they pioneered in agriculture and labor organizations. The German
population is 2.6 per cent of the total, or 153,362 persons (1930
census).
Economic and political pressure prompted the coming of Alsatians.
Settling first in isolated Castroville (1844), they remained a negative
element in general development, contributing chiefly a graceful mode of
colonial architecture. The French of La Reunion (see Dallas) were a
more active factor in the development of their locality. Due to the
proximity of Louisiana, there have been French in Texas since very
early days, and the 1930 census showed 10,185 of this nationality.
In many communities of south central Texas, the Czechs are rapidly
replacing other racial elements. They migrated in the 1840*5 and
1 850*5 from political hardships in Europe. Essentially farmers, they
soon acquired land and educated their children. The Czechs have
repeatedly impressed themselves upon the public consciousness; they
have held high public offices and have been especially active in the field
of education. Czech settlements include Praha, Fayetteville, Dubina,
Cameron, El Campo, Shiner, Flatonia, Rosenberg, and Jourdanton.
The Wends and Poles came in search of religious and political
freedom. Serbin (see Tour %4 a ) is the mother colony of the Wends,
and Panna Maria that of the Poles. Norwegians are found principally
in Bosque County, and there is a college supported by them at Clifton.
The Swedes in Texas have been prominent in educational and religious
activities. The 1930 census showed 48,920 Czechs, 5,543 Norwegians,
14,365 Swedes, and 14,369 Poles.
There were in 1930, 854,964 Negroes in the State, comprising 14.7
per cent of the total population. They are an important economic
factor, as they are in every cotton-producing region. The first black to
arrive Estevanico, a Moor accompanied Cabeza de Vaca on his
wanderings (1528-36). Luis Aury sold Negroes for $i a pound in a
slave market on Galveston Island in 1816; he was followed by Jean
RACIAL ELEMENTS QI
Lafitte, who preyed on ships carrying slaves that were being smuggled
by dealers into the United States.
Austin s colonists were given permission to import slaves. These
Negroes lived principally along the Brazos, Trinity, Neches, Sabine, and
Colorado River bottoms, where cotton was first grown on a large scale.
By 1850 there were 58,072 bales of cotton produced and there were
58,558 slaves; in 1855 there were 105,111 bales of cotton and 105,974
slaves. From that period until the present the Negroes have been
concentrated largely in the cotton-producing section in the eastern half
of the State, where in five counties the Negro population exceeds the
white. About 77 counties in the western part of the State have almost
no Negroes. Urban centers of Negro population are Houston, Dallas,
Fort Worth, San Antonio, Beaumont, and Waco. Thirty-eight per
cent of the Negro population in 1930 was urban, 62 per cent rural.
Negroes owned 23 per cent of the farms they tilled, and they sold or
traded $52,364,941 worth of farm products. There were 63,269 home
owners.
The Texas Negro s social and economic status is very like that of
the Negro of Tennessee. Welfare organizations and the Agricultural
and Mechanical College of Texas have cooperated to obtain better
living conditions for the race. Recently, standards of education, sanita
tion, and other conditions have improved. A survey made in 1936
showed Texas Negroes to be operating 1,736 retail stores, which were
doing an annual business of more than six million dollars. They had
3,910 churches. In 1866 only 1,600 Negro children were in schools;
in 1930 there were 172,394. Among the contributions of the Texas
Negro outside of his labor, those to music and folklore are probably
most valuable.
Many other nationalities have contributed to the State s develop
ment, including the Italians, who are firmly established in business in
the cities; the Japanese, who raise rice in eastern Texas; the Chinese,
notable for their business houses in San Antonio and El Paso ; the
Belgians, who are chiefly truck farmers ; and the Greeks, who often are
fruit dealers and restaurant operators. The influx of English, Scotch,
Austrian, Russian, and other foreign white groups has been large. Most
of these nationalities, however, have contributed more to the State
through individual members than as groups.
Folklore and Folkways
FOLK institutions of Texas have a range that corresponds to the
size of the State and the wide diversity of racial influences.
Ancient tribal dances, the inherited fiestas of the Mexicans, tall
tales of the pioneers, and the colorful yarns and customs of cowboys are
only part of the State s wealth of folk inheritances. The ghost of Jean
Lafitte, the pirate, hardy Texas Rangers, and Br er Rabbit, share honors
in lore handed down from father to son.
In an area that reflects so many racial elements, and cherishes the
long-established traditions of the Old South along with the more bois
terous practices of the western frontier, there is a variety of influences
which, taken collectively, represent a rich American culture still in the
making. Approximately one-half of the State s inhabitants live on the
soil the cradle of most folkways. A large percentage of those residing
in the cities are only one generation removed from the country. Hence
one may be welcomed to play-parties in the metropolitan city of Dallas,
hear the songs of the southern Negro on the docks of Houston, and find
the genial old German custom of Kaffeeklatsch (afternoon coffee) in
San Antonio.
Texas connotes the cowboy and his customs to a great majority of
people. Representing (with few exceptions) the Anglo-American
element, the cowboy bears the same relation to the folkways and folk
lore of Texas that the Indian does to those of Oklahoma. The feeling
of the earth and sky while tending the herds, the rodeos, the round-ups,
92
FOLKLORE AND FOLKWAYS 93
and the hardships accepted half humorously, half resignedly, have been
factors in the development of cowpuncher lore which is surviving even
the passing of the great ranches.
It is rather natural that a mythical super-cowboy should have been
evolved around the chuck wagon and the bunkhouses. Pecos Bill, "the
great-granddaddy of all cowboys," experienced such tremendous adven
tures that he even altered the topography of the State. There are
various accounts of Pecos Bill s birth, but any puncher will declare, w r ith
a great deal of pride, that the hero was born in Texas. While his
family was moving farther west, Bill dropped out of the wagon. Since
there were 17 or 18 other children in the wagon, "Bill s ma and pa
didn t miss him for two or three whole days; then it was too late to
turn back and hunt for him."
But Bill was not one to starve. The coyotes so goes the legend
"took him up and raised him." As he grew, he became so terrific that
whenever the rattlesnakes heard him coming they hid in the cactus
because his bite might poison them. He used mountain lions for saddle
horses. Feeling that he needed a few pets around his shack, he invented
centipedes and tarantulas.
Taking up a bet, Pecos Bill mounted an Oklahoma cyclone and
traveled across three States. Mountains were leveled and forests up
rooted. From this little jaunt there emerged the almost treeless Texas
Panhandle. Bill would never have been "throwed" had not the cyclone,
in desperation, "rained out from under him."
The great tragedy of Bill s life was his romance with Slue-Foot Sue.
Bill always had an eye for the ladies, but Sue seems to have won his
heart over all other women. On the morning of their wedding, Sue
insisted on riding Bill s famous horse, "Widow Maker," since no other
bronco had ever "throwed" her. When the bride mounted "Widow
Maker," he pitched so high that Sue "had to duck her head, in order to
keep from havin it bumped by the moon." She was wearing the latest
style of steel-spring bustle, so that each landing on the ground bounced
her as high as before. For four days and nights the girl rebounded
between heaven and earth. In the end, Bill had to shoot her rather
than have her starve to death.
The preponderance of this type of folklore in Texas is accounted for
by the fact that it is still being created, for the real Texas cowboy has
not vanished ; on the King Ranch alone there usually are about 700 of
them. The cowboy s tendency to scoff at hardship or to extol virtue by
exaggeration, a trait inherited from a frontier where living was diffi
cult, continues to this day. By way of illustration is the story of the two
cowboys who "got fired."
These cowboys were sent out to build a fence, and on the way they
found a den of between five and ten thousand rattlesnakes, all the way
94 TEXAS
from six to 14 feet long, lying stretched out, "froze stiff by a norther."
They "throwed a rope around a bundle of em" and began using them
as fence posts, one cowboy hammering while the other held "the pointed
end" into the ground. Speedily they finished the work, and the boss
appreciated the saving in time and labor very much so much that he
rode right out to see the fence. Then they lost their jobs. And this
was the explanation :
"When the sun commenced shining them blamed rattlesnakes thawed
out an carried off two miles of good barbed wire."
But cowboy lore is not all exaggerated, if colorful, myth. Two of
the most popular range ballads, typical of much of the folklore, are "The
Dying Cowboy" and "The Cowboy s Dream," dealing with the theme
of death. Today, the residents of Archer City show one lone grave
that is supposed to be the final resting place of the young cowpuncher
who was buried far from home, "on the lone prairie." The second
ballad reveals a profound religious instinct expressed in the familiar
imagery of the cowboy :
The trail to green pastures, though narrow,
Leads straight to the home in the sky,
To the headquarters ranch of the Father
In the land of the sweet by and by.
The Texas Ranger is inseparable from the cowboy in the folk
tradition of Texas. One of these early Rangers, "Mustang" Gray, is
the subject of a popular Texas ballad, a romantic novel, and many
tales.
With typical hospitality, Texas accords the same place in its folk
tradition to violators of the law that it does to those who uphold
authority. The people have never condoned lawbreaking as such, but
they respect bravery in any individual. Even such recent outlaws as
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are represented by two distinct
ballads. Generally, all such desperadoes are portrayed in folk legends
as modern Robin Hoods who took from the rich and gave to the poor.
Thus the celebrated bandit, Sam Bass, is pictured as "a good boy who
got into bad company."
Deep in the piney woods of east Texas there exists a predominately
Anglo-Saxon group whose folkways change little from year to year.
These people retain a firm belief in the efficacy of conjure balls to dry
up wells and of kerosene oil to cure most illnesses. "Hants" and
fabulous monsters abound in the woods and thickets of this section.
The ghost of one woman haunts a tree and protests to passersby about
having been buried beside her husband s relatives. Whoever touches
the tree is bound to die before sunset. "Old Coffin-head," a giant rattle
snake, roams the thickets (see Tour 2}.
The mountaineers of the Austin hills are closely akin racially to the
FOLKLORE AND FOLKWAYS 95
piney woods folk. These people are a remnant of the early mountain
stock found in the Cumberlands and Ozarks. Elizabethan idioms per
sist in the vernacular, and here old English ballads, including "Barbara
Allen," are heard.
Texas folk cultures are generally expressing themselves in new forms
instead of dying. The oil field workers, for example, have borrowed
the lumberjack hero, Paul Bunyan, and are now converting him into a
gigantic figure of the derricks. A typical story is that of Paul s great
post hole deal. Once while he was drilling for oil at Breckenridge, he
struck a dry hole. Furious, he smashed the derrick with one blow of
his fist. Then he saw an advertisement for 10,000 post holes wanted by
a rancher in the Panhandle where "the wind blows prairie dog holes
inside out." So Paul hitched a chain to a dry hole, pulled it up and,
realizing that the hole was too long to handle in entirety, he cut it into
proper lengths, shipped the pieces to the Panhandle and made a fortune.
Another time, he built a pipe line from his Texas ranch to the Chicago
stockyards and pumped his cattle through it, but the pipe was so big
that half-grown yearlings would get lost in the threads and starve to
death before they could get out.
The State s oldest racial observances are those of the Tiguas and
Piros of the El Paso area, whose tribal dances, performed annually at
Mission Nuestra Senora del Carmen at Ysleta, are of ancient origin
(see Tour 19f). However, probably because of the small number of
Indians remaining in the State, their influence in folklore is very slight
except in nature lore and myths. One story of the bluebonnet is that a
little girl burned her favorite doll in order that a long drought might
be broken, and when she awoke next morning, the ground was covered
with blue flowers the shade of the doll s headdress.
Innumerable feast days are observed by the Mexicans, with all the
colorful pageantry that is part of the racial tradition. During the
Christmas season, there are numerous performances of Los Pastores, a
traditional Spanish miracle play whose actors are simple farmers and
workers, and whose stage may be a back yard, a church, or a vacant
storeroom. The play is generally opened with singing by a shepherd
choir, and the choir thereafter interprets the drama. Angels next appear
singing the glad tidings of Christ s birth, while Lucifer attempts to
dissuade the shepherds from going to Bethlehem. The men, neverthe
less, desert their flocks, taking with them an old hermit who has waited
all his life for this night. A lazy shepherd named Bartolo furnishes
the comedy for the play, which is none the less reverent in its treatment.
Arriving at the manger, the shepherds present the Christ Child with
gifts of food. The observance of this play begins nine days before
Christmas and lasts until January b. Costumes are home-made and the
96 TEXAS
actors for the most part must save pennies all year in order to adorn
their shepherds crooks and to secure the tinsel and finery necessary.
The Posadas, or Rests, held in memory of the journey to Bethlehem,
are also celebrated by the Mexicans before Christmas. Small lanterns
over doorways or swaying from treetops indicate places where this cere
mony is to be held. Groups of nine families take part. The first
family to participate stops at a house, singing Christmas carols. Admit
tance is refused them; they then ask for posada, or rest. The second
family joins the first as they move on to a third house, and so on, the
group singers increasing at each posada. Refreshments are served at
the last house and prayers are recited by the assembled company before
the manger or an improvised altar. The last posada, held on Christ
mas Eve, becomes an all-night watch, when the participants, after
attending midnight Mass at the nearest church, return to celebrate
until morning.
The Dia de Inocentes is celebrated December 28 in memory of the
children who died under the edict of Herod in his search for the Christ
Child. It is customary on this day to play tricks on one s friends in
a manner similar to the occurrences on April Fool s Day. Inocente
means foolish as well as innocent, hence the cry of "Inocente" after
each discomfiture of a victim.
Originating in the remote provinces of Spain, the Blessing of the
Animals (January 17), celebrates the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot,
their protector. The event is marked by a procession of pets, from the
canary to the family cow or horse, which are gayly decorated and taken
in a parade to any parish church for the invocation of a blessing to
provide them strength to serve their masters.
It is quite natural that the celebration of St. John s Day (June 24)
should be associated with water and, accordingly, the ritual requires
that all go to the nearest pond, river, or lake for an early morning dip.
The custom also permits, if no body of water is available, a plain tub
bath. Two other customs prevail on this day. One is haircutting.
If a woman wishes to have luxuriant hair, she dampens the ends of
her tresses and places them on the doorsill, where they are chopped off
with a hatchet. The second is Las Mananitas, traditional folk song.
Any home in which a member of the family bears a name derived from
John, is sure to be awakened on this day with a serenata by a group of
singers. If the Mananitas is agreeable to Juan or Juanita, the musi
cians are invited into the house for whatever refreshments are considered
proper at five o clock in the morning.
The matachines are symbolic dances in which the rattling of a
hollow nut imported from Mexico, and the soft patter of leather san
dals, furnishes much of the rhythm. Performed at various places, they
can be seen regularly on December 12. The word matachin means a
FOLKLORE AND FOLKWAYS 97
dance performed by grotesque figures. Dating back further than the
Spanish conquest, they were part of the Aztec ritual when Cortes
entered Mexico. The Franciscans incorporated them into Christian
festivals, in order to interpret religious symbolism. The first mata-
chines were simple, with no pattern or significance apart from the
obvious one of worship. Additions and interpolations were combined
with special costumes and the ceremonial has become highly compli
cated. The ritual is passed from father to son and is closely guarded.
Those who take part wear colorful clothing ornamented with feathers,
reeds and beads.
One of the most interesting phases of Mexican folkways is the
remedio folk curing, the use of plants, herbs, charms, and incantations
to cure disease or bewitchment. This lore is handed down from mother
to daughter, usually, and there are remedies for everything, even for
susto fright. (The cure for this is cenizo leaves, boiled.) The cure
for boils is to kill, cook, and eat a road runner or chaparral cock.
Mexicans often touch a child they admire, otherwise it will become a
victim of "the evil eye." Among the actual remedios on record is one
which caused the ailing man to walk two miles in shoes in each of
which a can of tomatoes had been emptied.
The Mexican tradition is historically connected with many of the
legends of buried treasure to be found in Texas folklore. Cabeza de
Vaca, Coronado (see Plistory), and other Spanish explorers spun great
tales of gold in Texas, or searched for it. James Bowie, hero of the
Alamo, was supposed to have located the lost San Saba mine, legendary
with the Spaniards. Countless men have expended money and energy
in an attempt to find these lost mines or buried treasures. So far, the
searches have revealed only a few old coins. But some Texans are
still, as J. Frank Dobie describes them, Coronado s Children. Let a
Mexican cowpuncher or an old settler produce an ancient chart, and
immediately somebody goes out to dig for hidden gold.
Among Texas Negroes nature myths and proverbs are common,
similar in general to those of Negroes of other States. (Br er Rabbit
is a favorite subject, his escapades adapted to local conditions.) They
have, also, the same belief in the efficacy of charms and good-luck pieces
to ward off bad luck or disease, and, in isolated communities, certain
forms of "conjure" are prevalent. This folk culture is retreating before
such influences as increased educational and economic development for
the Negro masses.
The annual celebration by Negroes of June 19 the day when
emancipation from slavery became effective in the State (see Galveston)
is general; few Texas Negroes would consider working on "June-
teenth" if it can be avoided. The holiday is generally observed by a
picnic at which everyone eats, dances and sings to his heart s content.
98 TEXAS
During this celebration, the racial gift of melody asserts itself. Every
Negro who can play a riddle or guitar brings his instrument, while the
others break spontaneously into the "blues," work songs, or spirituals.
A Texas contribution to Negro folkways is the barbecue stand, with
its outgrowth of customs. Business deals are often closed and social
engagements made at a barbecue stand, where meats cooked in open
pits by Texas Negroes have a flavor which they claim is distinctive.
Perhaps the Texas Negro s largest contribution to folk material is
in music, in the indigenous spirituals, work songs and other melodies
that originate in the cotton field, over washtubs and at church.
In San Antonio and in the hill country north and west of that city,
the Germans have preserved an authentic folk culture. A group of
Germans of San Antonio still observe traditional customs. Folk dances
are a cherished feature of parties in Gillespie County (see Tour 24b)
Other foreign groups of the State, including the Poles, the Swedes,
the Wends, the Czechs, the Italians and other European groups, cling
to their national customs. As comparative newcomers in Texas, they
have not had time to develop an indigenous folklore, and their folk
ways remain those of the homeland. The community of Swedona is
an example of the manner in which one of these racial units has pre
served its old customs (see Tour 16b).
The Texas Folklore Society (with headquarters in Austin), collects
and preserves folk material, and has been a valuable agency in gathering
obscure data from isolated communities.
Education
TEXAS is well provided with educational facilities in its 120 col
leges, universities, and academies, and its approximately 14,809
public schools of all classifications. Typical of the character
of the State is the story of the development of its educational institu
tions, which have been forced to struggle through the diversity of ideas
and ideals brought by a heterogeneous population. The history of edu
cation in Texas reaches back more than four centuries.
Largest of the State s schools is the University of Texas (see Aus
tin). The discovery of oil on part of the 2,000,000 acres of public
domain set aside for its support has made this a very wealthy institution.
The total value of the permanent endowment school fund of Texas is
about $72,000,000.
As early as 1503 the Spaniards, wishing peaceably to "reduce" the
Indians of the New World, ordered schools for the children of the
savages. The Franciscan missions adopted this as part of their mode
of spiritual conquest, and in their schools had the first vocational train
ing courses in Texas.
But the first real public school was taught in the Villa of San
Fernando de Bexar (San Antonio), in 1746. The "whooping savage
had gleefully eluded education," and records disclose the subsequent
struggle of Spanish colonial authorities to "reduce" the sons and daugh
ters of hidalgos (nobles) to schoolrooms. In San Antonio, following
the revolutionary troubles of 1811-13, a building was erected, and
facilities provided for 70 pupils. Spanish educational efforts, however,
netted nothing in permanent achievement.
99
100 TEXAS
Mexico in turn provided schools, whose pupils were to learn "read
ing, writing, arithmetic, the catechism of the Christian religion ... the
rights and duties of men in society, and whatever else may conduce
to the better education of youth." Towns founded during this period,
following the old Roman method, had a city block set aside for school
purposes.
The local governments or ayuntamientos were made responsible
under Mexican law for obtaining school funds and facilities. In Janu
ary, 1828, books were purchased for a public primary school in San
Antonio; this is believed to be the first instance in which free textbooks
were provided. Two years later the Board of Piety organized a school
in Nacogdoches, and as his part toward its support one citizen gave a
barrel of beans, another, a yearling calf.
Colonists from the United States who came early had scant means
of bringing textbooks. They used whatever was available. One stu
dent would bring to class a copy of Robinson Crusoe; another, Gold
smith s Natural History. Even the best equipped frontier stores carried
only "Murray s Grammars, Walker s Dictionaries, slate pencils and lead
pencils." A housewife donated her pasteboard hat box to a teacher
who used it in lieu of a blackboard. James N. Smith wrote, "The
neighbors soon cut logs and built a comfortable school house." But in
many instances even log buildings were not available, and classes were
conducted in the open, air under trees, or in the homes of settlers.
One of the greatest causes of friction between Texas and Mexico
was the matter of schools. To mollify the colonists, the Mexican
government at one time donated 17,712 acres of public lands for a
school in Nacogdoches ; it liberalized its school laws, and added "geog
raphy and good manners" to the curriculum. But such gestures ended
in failures. The evidence is that Mexico also deplored the lack of
schools. Juan N. Almonte wrote in 1834, "What is to be the fate of
those unhappy Mexicans who dwell in the midst of savages without
hope of civilization?"
Reasons for the failure of schools under Mexican rule were many:
the impoverished condition of the national treasury, the difficulty of
obtaining good teachers and textbooks, and the fact that Roman Catholic
training, with which most of the immigrants from the United States
were not in sympathy, was stressed. Among the pioneers were some
who valued education and obtained private teachers for their children
or sent them to the United States to school. Others cared little for
schools, for they had come to earn their fortunes in a land which must
first be subdued. Thus, unlike the eastern States, Texas did not estab
lish the church and the school along with the home.
Many private schools appeared during the period 1823-36. They
were called "old field or "cornfield" schools. Teachers moved from
EDUCATION IOI
one plantation or log cabin to another, taking as pay whatever they
could get. A Captain Beach told of hiring a team to haul his salary"
a load of corn 100 miles to the nearest market. The average charge
was $2 a month for tuition. As the younger folk usually helped their
parents in the fields, school terms were as uncertain as the weather.
Nothing was accomplished toward the establishment of a regular
public school system until Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Repub
lic of Texas, in December, 1838, made an impassioned plea for free
public schools. Addressing the Congress of the Republic, he said :
If we desire to establish a Republican Government upon a broad and
permanent basis, it will become our duty to adopt a comprehensive and
well-regulated system of mental and moral culture. ... A suitable appro
priation of lands to the purpose of general education can be made at this
time without inconvenience to the Government or the people; but defer
it until the public domain shall have passed from our hands, and the
uneducated youths of Texas will constitute the living monuments of our
neglect and remissness.
In reply to Lamar s challenge the public school system of Texas
was built. In 1839-40, through legislation and the efforts of Andrew
J. Yates, educational leader, each county was allocated four leagues of
public lands (17,712 acres) to be used for school purposes, and 50
leagues were set aside for the establishment of two colleges or univer
sities the present source of wealth of the University of Texas.
The indifference of many settlers toward public schools and the
cheapness of the State s school lands long delayed the benefits Lamar
had planned. Nevertheless, during the 1840*5 many private institutions
were chartered. Rutersville, the first college actually to materialize,
opened near La Grange in 1840. Two years later the University of
San Augustine was opened, the first Texas educational institution to
require laboratory work in science. Baylor University (see Waco) was
chartered in 1845 and is the oldest college in the State. Other schools
were launched by pioneer educators who, in 1845, formed the Texas
Literary Institute to foster the cause of education in Texas.
Following annexation, provisions were made for two kinds of schools,
"public" and "free." For the latter, one-tenth of the State s revenue
was set aside ; these schools were for orphaned and indigent children.
Now began the factionalism which for 55 years was to retard educa
tional progress in Texas. One group looked upon education as a purely
private matter; another faction favored free schools for all children.
Still others held that education was a charity for the indigent, or that
it should be regulated by religious leaders. In 1846 Galveston voted
taxes for the establishment and support of "free public schools." San
Antonio had four free public schools in 1853, in a program described
by Dr. Frederick Eby, author and educator, as "the first genuinely free
school system to be opened in Texas."
I O2 TEXAS
The act establishing a uniform State school system was passed on
January 31, 1854, but defects in the law and the popularity of private
schools limited its benefits. The school system, like the State, was
land-poor and the per capita allowance was only 62 cents.
German settlers led the way in the establishment of free schools
supported by local taxes, and formed associations to organize and con
trol them. The Masonic Order greatly aided the cause of education,
in some instances even supplying school buildings. Churches founded
45 institutions in the State between 1846 and 1873.
The Civil War interrupted educational progress in Texas for almost
20 years. State school funds had virtually been wiped out, and in
1870 the National Bureau of Education reported that Texas was "the
darkest field educationally in the United States." Public schools were
reinstated in the constitution of 1869, which provided for the first time
"a uniform system of public free schools for the gratuitous instruction
of all the inhabitants between the ages of six and eighteen."
Co-education began in Texas in 1865 under the guidance of the Rev
erend Rufus C. Burleson, one of the founders of Waco University
(now Baylor University). The designation of degrees for women
graduates puzzled the more liberal educators who opened the doors to
the fair sex. Keachi College (now nonexistent) offered the Maid of
Arts and the Mistress of English Literature. Waco University had a
Mistress of Arts degree. Andrew Female College (now nonexistent)
at first conferred the degree of Graduate of the College upon women,
but changed it to Mistress of Polite Literature.
During Reconstruction a drastic school system was established along
military lines. Bitter opposition to this system crippled the educational
program; reactionary reforms were noteworthy for extravagance.
Brenham established Texas first municipal high school in 1875.
The State constitution of 1876 set aside "not more than one-fourth
of the general revenue," for school purposes, and allocated one-half of
the public domain, about 52 million acres, for school support. For a
State university, one million acres of public land were reserved, and it
was specified that the institution was to be launched as soon as possible
"for the promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences." A State
Board of Education was organized, but its members, all State officials,
had little time to devote to educational matters. Separate schools were
provided for white and Negro children.
Through a Federal land grant, the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas came into existence in 1876 (see Tour 20b) . Its
grant specified that it be a scientific and vocational college, but at first
its courses were purely literary, a condition that led to criticism.
Governor O. M. Roberts played the most prominent role in the
establishment of the modern school system. In 1879 he undertook the
EDUCATION IO3
re-establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College along the
lines provided in its grant, and by his influence helped establish Sam
Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville. In 1882 he assumed the
leadership in organizing the University of Texas, which had been author
ized by an act of the legislature in 1881. Governor Roberts changed
public sentiment from hostility to enthusiasm for free public schools.
An amendment authorizing the district school system and the right of
districts to vote local taxes for school purposes, was passed in 1883.
The school law of 1884, providing for greater support from the State,
became the basis for all future educational progress and has remained
almost unchanged.
Educational progress accelerated in the twentieth century. The
Conference for Education in Texas was organized in 1907, and through
contact with teachers it lifted professional standards. In 1915 the
Compulsory Attendance Law was passed. Under this law all children
between the ages of eight and 14, unless properly excused, are compelled
to attend school. In 1918 a constitutional amendment authorized free
textbooks.
Community activities in connection with the World War initiated a
program of physical and vocational training to take the place, largely,
of instruction in abstract subjects.
When the University of Texas opened its doors in 1883 there were
scarcely half a dozen high schools in the State, and almost at once it
was discovered that there were few young people equipped to enter a
university. It was decided that the University would assist in organ
izing and affiliating high schools, and soon affiliation became an influ
ence which raised the standards of schools seeking this objective.
The junior high school movement started about 1912, and this sys
tem is in general use in the cities. Texas schools also include 42 junior
colleges, 36 for white students and six for Negroes. Texas has the
second largest number of junior colleges in the country.
Negroes were given free public schools in 1871. At first their
teachers were persecuted and some of their school buildings burned.
As late as 1893 the Negro leaders complained that "it must be borne
in mind that the mass of the colored people are in a lamentable state of
ignorance, the result of that wicked system of bondage which shut them
out from the acquisition of all knowledge of letters and made it a penal
offense to teach them to read the Word of God." Political leaders
finally realized that as long as agriculture remained the mainstay of
the State, the Negro must be an important part of the population and
hence must be satisfied. Many Negro leaders at first resented efforts
of educators to provide the race with vocational schools, as they believed
that by teaching agriculture and such subjects the white man was trying
to retard the progress of the race. However, in the eight leading Negro
1 04 TEXAS
colleges of Texas, vocational work, particularly that in agricultural
subjects, has become paramount. The leading Negro institutions are
the Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College, Bishop College,
and Wiley College in Marshall, Mary Allen Seminary for Girls in
Crockett, Texas College in Tyler, Paul Quinn College in Waco, and
Samuel Huston College in Austin.
Private schools of the past have been replaced in Texas by a number
of State-controlled and State-maintained schools, and by large denomi
national institutions. There are 41 schools definitely of college rank.
Before the establishment of the Texas State College for Women
in Denton, little had been done toward the development of domestic
science and practical industry as educational subjects. This college led
the way, in 1903, and within ten years all the leading schools had prac
tical arts courses. Vocational education is now widespread in Texas.
It began in 1917-18 when 39 public schools offered courses in vocational
agriculture or home economics. The State Board of Vocational Edu
cation, the membership of which is identical with the State Board of
Education, administers the public school vocational educational pro
gram. Federal funds are available to the State for vocational education
through the Smith-Hughes and George Dean Acts. The Division of
Vocational Education of the State Department of Education includes
such services as: trade and industrial education, vocational agricultural
education, homemaking education, and distributive education.
More recently, the Federal government has conducted through co
operation with the State Department of Education and the Extension
Division of the University of Texas a program of adult education
which is operated by the Work Projects Administration. About 7,000
adults are participating in the vocational education classes of the WPA
Education Program. In addition to vocational education, this program
conducts courses for adults in literary education, general education and
parent education. About 60,000 are participating in all phases of the
program.
When the University of Texas was established it had many enemies,
one statesman declaring that universities were "hotbeds of immorality,
profligacy and licentiousness." In addition to the original grant of
public land, a grant of a million acres was made in 1871 for a State
university and its branches. These branches include the Medical School
in Galveston, the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy (see El
Paso), and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (see
Tour 20b). "Texas A. & M." as it is popularly known has exerted
a tremendous influence on the agricultural development of the State
(see Agriculture).
The only important privately endowed university is Rice Institute
in Houston. The Texas College of Arts and Industries in Kingsville,
EDUCATION IO5
Texas Technological College in Lubbock, and seven State Teachers
Colleges in Alpine, Canyon, Commerce, Denton, Huntsville, Nacog-
doches, and San Marcos, are leading institutions. Among the large
denominational schools are Baylor University in Waco, Baptist; South
western University in Georgetown, Methodist ; Texas Christian Uni
versity in Fort Worth, Christian; Southern Methodist University in
Dallas, one of the largest educational institutions in the State ; St.
Mary s University, Our Lady of the Lake College, the Incarnate Word
College, in San Antonio and St. Edwards University in Austin, Roman
Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church also maintains 379 institutions
below collegiate rank, including many girls schools and academies.
Ranking only thirty-sixth in the Frank M. Phillips survey of 1932
in educational standing in the Nation, Texas still has as its greatest
problem the rural school. In 1937-38 there were 1,687 white and
939 Negro one-teacher schools. Low salaries for teachers, inadequate
buildings and facilities, and the short terms of many rural schools, have
lowered educational standing. However, since 1900 progress has been
phenomenal. In that year there were only three institutions of higher
learning supported by the State. From 1900 to 1925 enrollment in
institutions of higher learning increased 582 per cent, while the popu
lation increase was only 53 per cent.
The consolidation of school districts and the establishment of school
bus lines in rural areas are two of the outstanding achievements of recent
years. Merging of districts has reduced the number of one-teacher
schools, and by providing more taxes has given the schools better facili
ties and longer terms. The 1939-40 apportionment per capita was $22.
There are 5,820 school districts in Texas (1938-39), of which 4,790
are common and 1,030 are independent. A total of 1,361 schools are
accredited. Statistics for the scholastic year 1938-39 show that there
were 1,563,679 students in the State with an average daily attendance
of 1,132,064. There were 50,023 teachers employed. Total expen
ditures for 1937-38 amounted to $69,010,235, aside from capital outlay
and debt service.
The State also maintains a number of institutions for training
handicapped persons, among them being the Texas School for the Blind,
the Texas School for the Deaf, and the State School for Deaf, Dumb,
and Blind, for Colored Youths, all in Austin, the State Orphans Home
in Corsicana, the State Juvenile Training School in Gatesville, the
Girls Training School in Gainesville, the State Colored Orphans*
Home in Gilmer, and the Waco State Home.
Religion
THERE are 15,062 churches, representing 63 denominations, in
Texas. Behind the edifices of today, in memory and in story,
stand the men who brought the Christian religion to the State,
many of them with a rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other. Daunt-
lessly they entered the wilderness, like the old leaders of Israel, and the
result of their labors has grown to approximately 2,300,000 members of
various faiths, and to church property valued roughly at $110,000,000.
Texas owes its beginnings largely to religion. Franciscan mis
sionaries, beginning in the sixteenth century, planted the Cross on the
soil north of the Rio Grande. Fray Juan de Padilla, companion of
Coronado, was one of the first churchmen to enter the region (1541).
Nine of the mission establishments remain and are the oldest churches
now in use (see San dntonio, also Tours 19f and 25b). San Fernando
Church (later a cathedral), was sponsored by a Spanish king (see San
Antonio).
Strangely enough, when the missions were secularized, Texas was
left almost without church influence. Protestantism was barred by the
Imperial Colonization Law of 1823, which said that the Mexican
government would protect "the liberty, property and civil rights of all
foreigners who profess the Catholic religion (Roman Catholic Apos
tolic), the established religion of the empire." Sam Houston was among
the settlers to be baptized in formal obedience to Mexican law.
Yet there were few priests in colonial Texas. Padre Muldoon,
1 06
RELIGION IO7
according to Noah Smithwick, was "the only authorized agent of Cupid
east of San Antonio." He often charged $25 for a marriage service,
for distances were great in those days. Under Mexican law no mar
riage outside the church was legal, and colonists already married were
re-wed, while those wishing to marry signed a legal bond, set up house
keeping, and waited for their wedding until the padre came. John J.
Linn wrote, "Not one in ten of the colonists introduced into Texas
were Catholics; and to my knowledge no efforts were made to secure
forcible subscription to the tenets of that church." While this was
true, colonists were compelled to protect the property rights of their
children. Thus, news of the coming of a priest was the signal for
all to hasten to the house nearest his route, where mammoth wedding
and baptismal ceremonies were held. These occasions were "the most
pleasurably exciting events in the lives of the colonists." The first
Republic of Texas Congress passed a law that all persons who had been
married by bond but not by religious rite should have their unions
solemnized by a "regular ordained minister of the gospel" or the judge
of some civil court, and the children of those so married were by the
same act made legitimate.
During the period of colonization in Texas, Dr. Lyman Beecher
predicted that the American frontier was in danger of relapsing into
barbarism. Yet as early as 1817 William Stevenson, Methodist mis
sionary, was preaching to settlers in the Red River region. In the
Austin colony, where there were II Baptist and several Methodist
families, Thomas J. Pilgrim, Henry Stephenson and others held services
in the i82o s. Occasional ministers conducted Protestant services for
the colonists, though Mexico prohibited their activities. In the spring
of 1832 Needham J. Alford, Methodist preacher, and Sumner Bacon,
a Presbyterian, held a meeting in Sabine County near the present town
of Milam. The matter was reported to Colonel Piedras, Mexican
commandant at Nacogdoches.
"Are they stealing horses?" the commandant inquired. "No, Senor
Commandant." "Are they killing anybody?" "No, Senor Comman
dant." "Are they doing anything bad?" "No, Senor Commandant."
"Then leave them alone," the commandant ordered.
There are numerous examples of the ingenuity of the colonists in
providing what might be called emergency religion. A Fourth of July
barbecue was delayed until the fiddler could hold funeral services for a
deceased stranger. A suspected murderer in the Austin colony was the
only carpenter available; he made his victim s coffin before the neigh
bors gathered to conduct the funeral, "a large one for these parts." A
frontier character known as "the Ring-Tailed Panther" forced a mis
sionary at the point of a pistol to hold services for his dead dog.
In the pressing business of establishing homes and freedom in an
108 TEXAS
isolated land it was perhaps inevitable that early settlers, wrestling so
wholeheartedly with the material, should neglect the spiritual. After
Texas became a Republic and the doors were opened to men of any
faith, ministers found stony ground awaiting their sowing. The Rev
erend Oscar M. Addison, a Methodist, wrote in 1843: "I have gone
3/4 of the way around my circuit and find nothing cheering, or encour
aging, many of the members have backslidden, and are spiritually dead
some have been going to dancing school, and some have joined the
Baptists."
Roman Catholic influence declined following the overthrow of Mexi
can authority, although many later settlers were of this faith. In 1838
the Reverend John Timon was sent to investigate conditions in Texas.
He reported finding only two priests. In 1840 the Reverend J. M.
Odin (later Bishop of Galveston) was given charge of the Roman
Catholic church in Texas, and through his efforts that religion regained
strength in the State.
On receiving news of the Battle of San Jacinto, the Methodist
General Conference of 1836 sent the Reverend Martin Ruter to super
vise a Texas mission. With him came two associates, Robert Alexander
and Littleton Fowler.
In 1839 a system of circuit riding was inaugurated by the Method
ists. Thereby the early Texas churchmen hoped to give even the remote
communities religious services every six weeks. The circuit rider s visit
was eagerly awaited. Missionaries still had need of courage. Their
time was spent largely on horseback. The State was infested with In
dians and travel was dangerous in the extreme. Every man went
armed, the ministers no less than others. The diary (1839) of the
Reverend Joseph P. Sneed gives some idea of the frontier preacher s
routine:
After dark Thursday 10 Oct, rode over to the Navadat (sic) passed no
house for 30 miles . . . Friday, went down 6 miles to Texanna . . . Mon
day i4th Oct . . . Left Texanna rode 45 miles to Dr. Sullivans on Colo
rado . . . (On the) 15 rode about 48 miles . . . Rough fare Sunday 20,
traveled this day contrary to my feelings and custom about 42 miles . . .
Then northwest up the brassos (sic) camped in the bottom that night we
kept guard all night to prevent bein supprized (sic) by the Indians the
wolves howled around us and I slept very sound . . .
Baptist ministers likewise were early in the State. The Reverend
Joseph L. Bays started preaching in private homes about 1820, and
was later arrested for his activities in the Austin colony. The Reverend
Mr. Pilgrim organized the first Sunday school in the Austin colony
perhaps the first in the State but was compelled to abandon it because
of opposition from the Mexican authorities. Texas first Baptist church
was established in Illinois in 1833, and a year later was transferred
below the Red River. It was called the Pilgrim Church of Predes-
RELIGION I O9
tinarian Regular Baptists. All of the branches of this church were
so-called "Hardshell."
The first Presbyterian church is believed to have been established
in the Red River country in 1833. German immigrants were probably
the first Lutherans in Texas. The first Texas minister of this faith
was German, the Reverend Louis C. Ervenberg, who came in 1839.
The Reverend Caleb S. Ives was the first Protestant Episcopal mis
sionary; he settled in Matagorda in 1838. There were people of Jew
ish faith in the Austin colony, although the first known synagogue in
Texas was not established until 1854. Disciples of Christ and Churches
of Christ organized, it is believed, about 1842. Christian Scientists
organized in Texas in 1886. Most of the other denominations came
to the State later.
Camp meetings and revivals conducted in the open or under brush
arbors were an important frontier institution. The Reverend Jesse
Hord, a Methodist minister, described a meeting held in January, 1839:
The scene was novel, solemn, imposing. A cloth tent, quite a log heap
on fire, surrounded by men and women anxiously inquiring the way of
life, and that in the midst of the almost undisturbed jungle of Old Caney
bottom. ... I read to them the Word of God, sung, prayed, exhorted them
to flee the wrath to come, and invited mourners, though we had no
mourner s bench nor altar. . . . Many, if not every sinner of the assembled
company, bowed and cried aloud for mercy. (From A Brief History of
Methodism in Texas, by Homer S. Thrall.)
Even the fervor of a people thirsty for religion could not offset the
damage done by irregularity of services. Contemporary writers com
plained of the lack of consistent moral training. The Morning Star,
a Houston newspaper, said on June 18, 1839:
It is a source of much astonishment and of considerable severe comment
upon the religious character of our city, that while we have a theatre, a
courthouse, a jail and even a capitol in Houston, we have not a single
church. Efforts we know have been made by some persons, who feel
interested in matters of this kind, to collect the necessary funds for the
erection of a house of worship but of late we have not heard a word
spoken about it.
Through the forties and fifties churches struggled into being, but
the neglect of earlier years was blamed for the harvest of "bad men"
of the sixties and seventies. Texas was probably merely a normal
frontier, with tough characters and their actions receiving more atten
tion than the quieter moral element, yet the gunmen obtained publicity
while ministers toiled in obscurity. The State loomed large in the
public eye because of such practices as dueling, which the churches
attempted to discourage.
Of all who earned reputations on the Texas frontier none came
by his more honestly than Andrew Jackson Potter, "the fightin parson."
I IO TEXAS
He was known from the Panhandle to the Gulf, a fire-eating preacher
reclaimed from the profession of gambling and bartending. One inci
dent of his career will tell the story of "Jack" Potter. On entering a
small town in west Texas, Potter learned that the only available build
ing for church services was the saloon. He obtained an "announcer"
who stood in front of the building and cried :
Oyez, oyez, there s goin to be some hellfired racket here this mornin
gents, by Fightin Parson Potter, a reformed gambler, gents, but now a
shore-nuff gospel shark. It s a-goin to begin in fifteen minutes, gents;
all ye old whiskey soaks an card sharpers better come on over an learn
to mend yer ways or the devil s gonna git ye quicker n hell kin scorch
a feather.
A crowd gathered, naturally, and so enthused were the hard-bitten
listeners that the "congregation" insisted on "setting em up" for the
parson after the services, but Potter refused a drink, so instead they
"took up a mighty handsome collection."
From the picturesque days of the frontier, Texas churches have
grown to an imposing aggregate, with a Sunday school enrollment of
more than a million. The Roman Catholic Church alone owns prop
erty valued at $11,041,749, and many of its church structures rank high
among the best examples of the State s architecture. The Roman
Catholic population was placed by the religious census of 1935-36 at
742,950, with a church membership of 555,899. Baptists led the State
in total membership, with 759,860 members, including the Negro
branches, and 5,944 church buildings. This census showed a total mem
bership of 488,584 Methodists, with 4,230 churches. The Disciples
of Christ and Churches of Christ together had a membership of 176,059.
Presbyterians had 85,514 members of five branches of that church.
Lutheran churches numbered 384 and had 99,737 members. Protestant
Episcopalians numbered 32,700. Christian Scientists totalled 3,296.
There were 49 Jewish congregations with a membership of 39,237.
The Unitarian, Universalist and Congregationalist Churches, prominent
denominations in many States, have but small representation in Texas.
The church is one of the Texas Negro s most important institutions.
Its history goes back to secret meetings of the slaves, and ever since
that beginning the church has been an important factor in the develop
ment of education, fraternal organizations, and civic association among
Negroes. In 1930 Texas had 3,910 Negro churches, valued roughly
at $10,500,000, with a total membership slightly above 350,000, of
which 2,132 Baptist churches had 234,000 members, and 1,420 Method
ist churches had 90,000 members.
Outstanding among the contributions of the churches of Texas are
the many charitable institutions and hospitals in the State maintained
RELIGION III
by the various denominations. Almost every religious group has organ
izations of laymen who carry on this work. Active among lay organiza
tions are the Knights of Columbus and the Jewish welfare associations.
Many fraternal organizations also aid in church welfare activities.
Social Life
IN ITS social life Texas is neither a typically Southern nor a typi
cally Western State, although both influences are felt, and in sec
tions one or the other predominates. In its tendency to preserve
the social customs and traditions of the past, Texas partakes of the
Old South; in its rodeos and barbecues it is as Western as the society
built upon the cattle industry of the broad prairies.
As in the South, Texas although more democratic in its acceptance
of newcomers builds its social strata largely upon names old in the
State, and its social life -upon time-honored customs and observances.
In some sections, however, the State is new, and here social equations
are based upon the usual standards of wealth, prominence, and merit.
Perhaps the last quality has more power in Texas to unlock the doors
of society and to admit the stranger to the circles of the elect than in
any section of the United States other than the real West. Through
out the State certain early characteristics hold true the noted hos
pitality of the old-time Texan prevails, and simplicity is the rule except
in social strata based upon sudden wealth.
"The dust of the plains on the shoes and a big hat are still badges
of old-established social position, hinting at kinship with cattle kings,"
one writer has said. And, "Remembering the Alamo is still a popular
social pastime."
The background of social life in Texas is as colorful as its history.
It began with the Spanish period of stately grand balls, of fandangos
112
I
SOCIAL LIFE 113
public dances on the plazas. The manners of the grandees and their
ladies and the numerous fiestas of the lower classes made a colorful pat
tern embroidered against the background of the green wilderness and
the red Indians (see History}. With the arrival of the Anglo-Ameri
can the social order changed, except that Mexican citizens preserved
their own traditional customs.
In early-day Texas, the dependence of one man upon the other
served to weld sections together and encourage greater social activity.
The fellowship of the pioneers developed into a brand of hospitality
which became known through the accounts of travelers. "Tall tales"
were told of the sociability of the Texans, one even going so far as to
picture a member of the Austin colony forcing a stranger at the point
of a gun to visit him. The coffeepot became a symbol it was "kept
a-boiling," and any person who might happen by was expected to "light
a spell" and visit.
The Reverend Oscar Addison in 1846 told of meeting a plantation
owner who, though "not religious . . . thought well of it," and invited
the circuit rider and his companion to dinner :
After entering he said his old friend Parson Steele . . . generally took
a gulp of brandy with him and would be happy for us to join him,
of course, we declined. . . . (This) will serve to give you an idea of some
of the kind of folks in this country. . . . We set down to a table groaning
under the weight of the good things of life, wine was by us refused.
It was natural that the simplicity and affability of the pioneers
should remove class barriers. A man s past mattered not in early
Texas. What he was did matter. Yet strangely enough, descendants
of these same Texans now value the past of any name, particularly if
that name symbolizes something of Texas.
Pioneer Texans had home-talent dramatic clubs, dancing classes,
home concerts and musicals, horse racing, and, most important of all,
the celebrations attendant upon anniversaries such as the Fourth of
July.
Mrs. Dilue Harris, speaking of a celebration held at Stafford s Point
on September I, 1836, wrote: "The barbecue, ball and election were
at Mr. Dyer s near our house. . . . The ladies spent the day quilting.
The young people began dancing at three o clock and kept it up till
next morning."
Following publication of an advertisement of a "Barbacue & Ice"
at Beauchamp s Springs, at which congressional candidates were to speak,
the editor of the Houston Morning Star, of July 4, 1839, said:
(It will) not be an unfavorable opportunity for these gentlemen to
express their true politics . . . provided . . . the liquors do not prove too
powerful.
114 TEXAS
Settlers were invariably ready to hold an outdoor celebration. Wed
dings were observed with as much gayety as Independence Day. Guests
rode horseback or came in wagons, and some traveled real distances
up to 100 miles. Noah Smithwick described a wedding of 1828:
"When young folks danced in those days, they danced . . . they shuffled
and double-shuffled, wired and cut the pigeon s wing, making the
splinters fly. . . . The fiddle being rather too weak to make itself heard
above the din of clattering feet, we had in another fellow with a clevis
and pin to strengthen the orchestra, and we had a most enjoyable
time."
The Telegraph and Texas Register s notice of a "splendid ball"
(1839), said:
The ball will be opened precisely at 1-2 past 8 o clock P.M. Gentle
men will obtain Tickets of admission at the bar.
An advertisement in the Morning Star of August 16, 1839, an
nounced:
Mr. Grignon begs leave to inform the public and his friends in general,
that he has engaged the Saloon at the Exchange Hotel, for the purpose
of giving lessons in Dancing, teaching waltzing, and all the fashionable
dances now in vogue in Europe. . . .
The quilting bee w r as a favorite form of entertainment. Suppers
served the workers were prodigious: Turkey, pork, venison, "Pies,
cakes, chickens, eggs, butter, milk, preserves."
The race track was a favorite gathering place. "Splendid and
refined amusement" was advertised. General Thomas Green wrote of
the race meet of 1839, "Many fine women and horses are in attend
ance." In the Telegraph and Texas Register, on July 31, 1839, was
this item :
There was a feast of reason and flow of souls recently up at Spring
Creek, consisting of a horse race, and three stump speeches.
The saloon was to some extent a social institution ; especially in
German communities was the beer garden a rendezvous. In most of
the growing communities men met socially over beer and champagne.
But rowdyism in any form was resented. The Daily Telegraph ( Hous
ton) of September 25, 1872, said:
Houston is too elegant a city to be afflicted with such places as Smoky
Row, Jones Woods, Hash Row, French Soldier, and Frogtown in Gal-
veston.
As foreign immigrants arrived they brought their customs and social
institutions with them (see Racial Elements}. In some sections devel
oped certain customs having racial significance. And in other sections
Texas is too big to be uniform in anything the people built up
SOCIAL LIFE 115
customs peculiar to themselves. Thus in San Antonio, where the past
is present in everything, there developed observances associated with the
city s early history, with descendants of those who had participated in
that history gradually becoming the social leaders. Notable among the
observances is the Fiesta de San Jacinto, which is the brilliant climax
of the city s social season. Typical social groups in San Antonio are
the Pioneers Association, the San Antonio Conservation Society, the
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and the Old Trail Drivers Asso
ciation. The latter organization is the only one of its kind in the
world, and its members are men who drove herds up the cattle trails,
or their descendants. In their social functions these men keep alive the
customs of other days they serve supper from real chuck wagons,
attend dances wearing red bandanna handkerchiefs and boots, and con
sume black coffee from tin cups.
In west Texas the rodeo and the Fourth of July barbecue are still
major social events. There are found such colorful observances as the
Cowboys Christmas Ball at Anson in the Abilene district (see Tour
Wa), and the Cowboys Reunion at Stamford (see Tour Wa). Elabo
rate rodeos are held, and are the signal for cattlemen and their families
to gather from the most distant points for a few days of intensive
social activity.
Also important in modern Texas social life are the various county
and State fairs. The State Fair Association sponsors the Boys and
Girls Encampment at the State Fair in Dallas, where about 800 farm
youths annually are provided entertainment and social contacts equaling
in importance the educational benefits received. Every county fair is
the occasion of much "neighboring," feasting, friendly rivalry, and
general enjoyment. The old pastimes prevail even, as in the case of
the Bandera Annual Frontier Celebration, including spinning and weav
ing contests (see Tour 17/1). And invariably at these festivities the
barbecue pit sends forth its fragrant message. Old settlers reunions
are held in many communities (see Calendar of Events), and other rural
social activities include county "sings" or singing conventions, a sur
vival of a frontier institution. Co-operation and neighborliness still
motivate many customs, especially in east Texas including cemetery
workings, poundings for the new preacher (when everyone brings a
pound of food), and school entertainments held as benefits. In many
rural sections the school is the center of social life; the teacher arranges
entertainments and programs.
But there have been many changes in social life in Texas, notably
the urban tendency to break up into small groups. Formerly the
churches were looked to for social as well as moral guidance. While
the "ice cream social" and other forms of church functions are still in
existence, particularly in rural communities, they are not as popular as
I 1 6 TEXAS
in the past. Religious revivals, once week-long gatherings, today bring
neighbors together more briefly, since good roads make it possible for
farmers to attend "meeting" after supper, and return. Luncheon
clubs and service organizations exist in abundance. The early organized
social groups of Texas were the usual literary societies, musical, recrea
tion and card clubs. In most of the State these organizations survive.
The Idlewild Club of Dallas, one of the oldest exclusive social groups
in Texas, was founded in 1884. One of the largest organizations with
social attributes is the Parent-Teachers Association, launched in 1909.
Another important factor in the social life of women of the State, par
ticularly of rural sections, is the State Federation of Women s Clubs.
Historical and study clubs dating to the early part of the century,
when women first began to organize generally in the State for cultural
advancement, are found in almost every community. In Dallas alone
there are 400 private clubs.
Social activity with a benevolent purpose is popular. Among the
newer developments are the Dogie Club of Amarillo, an organization
for the welfare of Negro boys, and the Maverick Club, which has for
its goal the rehabilitation of boys. The Maverick Rangers, composed
of boys, are taught respect for laws that affect the welfare of others.
Social events built primarily upon the physical features of various
sections, include the Onion Fiesta at Raymondville in the Rio Grande
Valley and the Oleander Fete in Galveston. Even at the noted Turkey
Trot of Cuero (see Tour 7d), an important social event locally, the
general practice is to hold colorful parades and to have courts of "roy
alty," with "queens" representing the highest social order, and "nobility"
selected from the first families.
Whether the stranger encounters his first taste of social life in
the State among the weather-beaten pioneers, with their warm greetings
and their friendly calloused hands, in the traditional folk festivals of
the Mexicans (see San Antonio and Tour 19f), or in the more sophis
ticated circles of society, he will be likely to find there something of the
past, something which makes the occasion belong peculiarly to Texas.
Sports and Recreation
RECREATION of almost every sort, except the snow sports of
the North, is possible in Texas because of the great diversity in
climate and topography. The visitor seeking the milder activ
ities finds bathing, boating, fishing, and all-the-year-round golf. He
who craves more strenuous sport can find it in any degree, from seacoast
resort to mountain fastness, in Gulf battles with giant tarpon, sailfish
and marlin or in hunting wildlife that ranges from small game birds
and animals to jaguars and panthers.
The total value of the wildlife of Texas was placed at $94,350,394
by a recent report of the United States Forest Service, an estimate that
gave Texas first rank among the States in this resource.
Parks and playgrounds total hundreds of thousands of acres, several,
save for the roads that traverse them, as untouched as when their forests
and crags were viewed by the earliest explorers. Outstanding among
these is the Big Bend State Park (see Tour 23A).
Hundreds of miles farther east is another extensive area in which,
although it is about an hour s motor ride from Houston, nature remains
untrammeled. Extending for many miles in east Texas, the Big
Thicket cuts across several counties which abound in game and fish.
In many parks, scattered throughout the State, comfortable camp
ing accommodations usually can be found, and danger is completely
absent.
Since the days of the first frontiersmen, who depended on their rifles
117
I l8 TEXAS
to fill their larders, Texas has afforded such excellent and abundant
hunting that only recently have methods been adopted for the con
servation of wildlife. In season, the hunter has a wide choice of fauna
and field. Bears, wildcats, mountain lions, and several varieties of deer
abound in the west and southwest parts of the State, deer and wild
turkeys are numerous in southern and eastern sections, and in many
areas are blue and bobwhite quail, mourning and white-wing doves,
ducks, geese, and small animals such as squirrels, rabbits, opossums,
and raccoons. In the south, particularly along the Mexican border,
large white-tailed deer, wild hogs, quail, white-wing and mourning
doves, and predatory animals, including the ocelot, abound. By arrange
ment, big game hunts can be made in Mexico, which offers bears and
antelopes.
In parts of the State, wolf hunts are important and exciting sport
ing events. The annual hunt sponsored by the Texas-Oklahoma Wolf
Hunters Association is the largest and best known (see Tour 13a).
The South Texas Wolf Hunters Association holds its hunts in the
southern part of the State, usually in the autumn. The fox hunts of
east Texas, held in the English fashion, are traditional, colorful sports
events.
For the fisherman in Texas waters there is a diversity that ranges
from the sluggish mud catfish to the fighting tarpon. Along the 400
miles of coast (almost 2,ooo miles if measured by the inner shoreline)
the Gulf teems with Spanish mackerel, pompano, redfish, Gulf trout,
and numerous other varieties. Thousands of visitors are attracted
annually to the tarpon rodeos at Port Aransas and Port Isabel. And
in lake and stream, at hundreds of spots throughout the State, there are
black bass, both big and small-mouthed, perch and crappie, and many
another food and game fish. Among the inland fishing resorts in lakes
and reservoirs are Caddo, Eagle Mountain, Medina, Brownwood,
Buchanan, Kemp, Cisco, Dallas, Roy Inks, Worth, Wichita, Mc-
Queeney, Bridgeport, and Holland. Texas streams and lakes are
restocked annually from Federal and State hatcheries. Due to stringent
game laws, there is no commercial fishing in fresh water, and sportsmen
have the lakes and streams to themselves. (For hunting and fishing
regulations see General Information.)
At the coast resort centers are bathing beaches, the one at Galveston
being nationally known, while Galveston and Corpus Christi are con
centration points for yachts and pleasure boats, of which nearly 1,300
craft of various classes are registered at Corpus Christi alone. The
boat race from Galveston to Corpus Christi is an annual event. On
many of the larger lakes also, boating is a favorite sport, small sailing
craft and, more commonly, motorboats equipped with outboard motors
participating in regattas.
SPORTS AND RECREATION IIQ
For visitors who wish a modified and not too inconvenient sample
of life on the range, there are numerous dude ranches, where the tourist
can merely relax and rest, ride gentle saddle horses, or participate, within
safe limits, in the more strenuous regular ranch activities. At the well-
regulated dude ranch the guest may be merely a spectator of the daily
doings of cowboys and cattle, taking no more exercise than is called for
at the bridge table, or he may enter into hikes, rides, and round-ups to
the limit of his strength or experience.
Each of the larger cities contains several golf courses, and there are
few towns in the State where the tourist cannot find a course within
a few miles. The long seasons of moderate weather make golf an
all-winter game in many sections, and the country club courses and some
of the municipal courses of the larger cities are excellent. Texas has
more municipal links per capita than any other State. On the fair
ways, Bermuda grass predominates. In recent years there has been
considerable experimentation with bent grass on the greens, which has
been brought successfully through summer heat. Public tennis courts
are to be found in the cities.
More polo horses are trained and more polo is played in Texas
than in any other place. Many of the dealers maintain training stables,
and there are polo fields in all of the important cities and in many of
the smaller towns.
Characteristic of spectator sports is the rodeo, the first one of
which in Texas was held in Pecos in 1884 as a contest between two
neighboring ranches (see Tour 19e). Numerous rodeos are conducted
throughout the State; the one at Saint Jo (see Tour 3b) held every
Saturday night during the summer, is open to anybody who desires to
compete. The outstanding annual rodeo is a world s championship
event featured each spring as a part of the Southwestern Exposition and
Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth.
Texas long has been the training ground for major league baseball
teams. Most of the games of its own Texas League are played at
night, under floodlights. Football, equally important to a somewhat
different public because of the several nationally known college teams
in the State, is also sometimes played at night.
(Advice as to clothing, equipment, and safety is to be found under
General Information.)
Newspapers and Radio
REVOLUTION against Spain gave Texas its first newspaper,
El Mejicano, published in Nacogdoches by Jose Alvarez de
Toledo in 1813. The revolutionists had brought to their head
quarters "a printing press and a few fonts of type, and the printer him
self formed one of the party." From this beginning, the story of Texas
journalism was for many years to be one of stormy interludes.
Nacogdoches also saw the second newspaper venture, under the
guidance of Dr. James Long, last of the filibusterers. He, too, had
come for the purpose of ousting the Spanish, and the Texas Republican
was issued to enlist sympathy in the United States. Copies were sent
to large contemporary newspapers, and the St. Louis Enquirer (Sep
tember 25, 1819) was moved to say:
These are strange things to be seen in a Spanish town; a newspaper
called Republican; the citizens attending to the establishment of a school;
mills building. . . . We wish they may go on, that the revolution may
triumph.
For a long time after this, news from outside Texas drifted in
belatedly and only occasionally, and so eager were the settlers from
the United States to learn what had occurred in that country and be
yond, that "well-behaved strangers" were welcome visitors everywhere.
It was reported upon more than one occasion that the traveler, anxious
to hasten about his business after a night s lodging, was courteously
120
NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO 121
but forcibly detained until his host was certain his budget of information
had been exhausted.
This general avidity for news caused the establishment of various
papers, which usually had short lives. They had no means of getting
dispatches from the outside world; Texas news of more than local
interest was likely to have a political angle, and Anglo-American printers
were obliged under Mexican law to take an oath not to "disturb the
peace with seditious papers." Distribution, because of the scarcity of
roads, was accomplished principally on horseback. Publications often
had to be suspended for lack of paper, and sometimes the editor closed
the shop in order that he might help his subscribers chase Indians.
Godwin Brown Cotton appeared in 1829, to establish a weekly pub
lication, the Gazette, at San Felipe. Subscriptions were acceptable in
"cash or produce." From Cotton s press came several newspapers.
As the revolution started in 1835 the Telegraph and Texas Register f
most significant of the earlier news journals, was established in San
Felipe, and became an invaluable repository for historical documents
of the revolution. Inventor Gail Borden, its part owner, realized the
importance to the cause of a publication and printing press, and val
iantly stood by his task (at Harrisburg after the ad interim government
had gone there from San Felipe) until the arrival of a Mexican army.
Later, in Columbia and Houston, Borden s paper was the official organ
of the Republic s early government. It mirrored frontier life the
flurry caused by the presentation of a play called the Dumb Belle; the
promise of "splendid and refined amusement" at the horse races; a
three-column account of the legal hanging of two murderers. The
Telegraph continued its useful career until 1877. Copies of the earlier
issues are in the University of Texas archives.
Texan prisoners of the Santa Fe expedition issued (1842) in the
castle prison of Santiago for six weeks a handwritten sheet, the True-
Blue, copies of which are in existence in Galveston.
When the Northern Standard was established at Clarksville in
1842, its editor, Colonel Charles De Morse, announced his willingness
to accept lard, tallow, beeswax, and other commodities in lieu of money
for subscriptions. His newspaper became the strongest influence in
northeast Texas. Most of the papers of this early period and for
many years afterward had outstanding causes, not always political, for
which they fought; some demanded more and better schools, some the
building of railroads. Among the picturesque pioneer newspaper editors
was Colonel John S. (Rip) Ford, Ranger and- Indian fighter, who had
a tendency to sell out or close his plants, so that he could join current
wars or lead his own expeditions.
The first modern Texas newspaper was the Galveston News. Es
tablished in 1842, its methods from the beginning were progressive;
122 TEXAS
as an example of its enterprise, when the railroads came, reporters and
advertising solicitors were placed on trains. Willard Richardson, one
of its early editors, originated the Texas Almanac, an informative book
(now published by the A. H. Belo Corporation, publishers of the Dallas
News) that has been an institution since 1857.
The management of the Galveston News established the Dallas
News in 1885 (the two publications are no longer connected), and this
newspaper soon exercised great influence over a wide area, its efforts to
improve and stimulate agriculture having been particularly far reaching.
Other pioneer newspapers still in existence are the Austin American-
Statesman, San Antonio Express, San Antonio Light, Houston Post-
Dispatch, Victoria Advocate, and Huntsville Item.
The Germans early had newspapers, and still have an outstanding
publication, the Freie Presse fuer Texas, San Antonio. La Prensa,
San Antonio, is one of the two largest Spanish-language newspapers in
the United States. Italian papers are published in Houston, Dallas,
and San Antonio. A Polish newspaper is published at Panna Maria,
where the first Polish colony of Texas was settled. Labor papers are
issued in the large cities of the State.
Negro newspapers, each of substantial influence in its area, include
the Houston Defender, San Antonio Register, Dallas Express, and
Beaumont Industrial Era.
The State s newspapers in 1940 numbered 761, of which no were
dailies, 68 with Sunday issues. There are 899 publications of all kinds
issued from 561 towns. Mention of all those that have given valu
able service to their communities and sections is manifestly impos
sible, but, in addition to publications already named, especially influen
tial dailies in the largest cities are the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Times-
Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, San Antonio News, El Paso
Herald-Post, and Beaumont Enterprise.
Three dailies, the Houston Press, Fort Worth Press, and El Paso
Herald-Post belong to the Scripps-Howard chain. One, the San An
tonio Light, is a Hearst paper. Four, the Austin American-Statesman,
Waco News-Tribune, Waco Times-Herald, and Port Arthur News,
belong to the Marsh-Fentress chain. In all of the State s newspapers,
whether home-owned or chain, emphasis is placed upon important local
and State news, but the largest of them devote much space to national
and world affairs, both in press association and special Washington news
dispatches and in syndicated columns of comment. In several, locally
written columns have achieved more than local reputation those, for
example, of Judd Mortimer Lewis in the Houston Post and of Gene
Alexander Howe in the Amarillo News-Globe.
Most famous of those who once were Texas newspaper writers was
William Sidney Porter (O. Henry). His humorous weekly, the Roll-
NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO 123
ing Stone, was published in Austin, and he was for a short time a
reporter in San Antonio, and for several months a reporter and colum
nist in Houston. Living graduates from Texas journalism to metro
politan newspapers include Stanley Walker (author of City-Editor
and Mrs. Astors Horse), who was born in Lampasas and before going
to New York was a reporter on the Austin-American and the Dallas
News.
Radio broadcasting has grown from Station WRR, Dallas, in 1920
with a power of 20 watts, to 55 stations in 1940, comprising a total
of 237,550 watts.
The estimated investment in broadcast stations in 1920 was $2,ooo,
and in 1940 was $2,750,000. The estimated value of broadcasting
facilities is $17,500,000. Combined facilities supply employment to
750 people, and indirectly employ 1,400 in allied fields.
The Texas Quality Network was established in 1934 and includes
the basic stations of WOAI (San Antonio), WFAA (Dallas), WBAP
(Fort Worth), and KPRC (Houston). The Texas Farm and Home
Hour, originated in 1935, is presented over this network from the
studios of WTAM at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of
Texas.
The Texas State Network was organized in 1938, with Elliott
Roosevelt at its head. It has a total outlet of 23 stations in Texas.
No State regulations govern broadcasting. All stations are under
the direct control of the Federal Communications Commission.
Literature
A MOST contemporary with the discovery of Texas by Europeans
was the beginning of its literature, for the first Spaniard to see
the interior of the new land wrote a book about it. Wrecked
on the Texas coast and for years a prisoner of Indians, Cabeza de Vaca
escaped in 1535 and in 1542 published at Zamora, Spain, a travel narra
tive of which the title, 48 words in length, may best be condensed
into La Relation de Cabeza de Vaca. A translation, made by Buck
ingham Smith in 1851, and edited by F. W. Hodge, is included in
Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528-1543 (1907).
The third edition of De Vaca s book (Madrid, 1749) is known by the
word Navfragios added to its title. A translation by Fanny Bandelier,
The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, was published in 1905.
Following De Vaca came the colorful Coronado (1541) crossing,
from the southwest, a part of the present Texas Panhandle in search
of Gran Quivira, and three of his letters, with one report to the viceroy
whom he served, survive. The story of the expedition was also told
by four persons who took part in it, the outstanding account being
that of Pedro Castaneda de Nagera. George Parker Winship, in The
Journey of Coronado, 1540-1542 (1904), translated and edited Cas-
taneda s narrative, which, as edited by F. W. Hodge, is also included
in Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States.
In 1542, after the death of Hernando de Soto, a band of his fol
lowers under the command of his successor, Luis Moscoso, moved
124
LITERATURE 125
westward from what is now Arkansas in an attempt to find other Span
iards of whom they had heard from Indians probably the Coronado
expedition and traversed some 20 present-day north Texas counties
before giving up their quest and returning. Spanish Explorers in the
Southern United States contains a narrative of their experiences by a
"Gentleman of Elvas," edited by Theodore H. Lewis.
After Coronado and Moscoso, few things worthy of printed note
occurred in the new land for almost a century and a half. Then
records were made of the tragic adventures in 1684-87 of the French
Sieur de La Salle, notably by Henri Joutel, who wrote a painstaking
Journal of La Salle s Last Voyage, 1684-1687, a translation of which
was published by Joseph McDonough in 1906. La Salle, who follow
ing his establishment of Fort St. Louis in 1685 explored an area in
southeast Texas roughly equivalent to one-tenth of the present State,
had at least a dozen chroniclers, and the stories by seven of his com
panions are contained in The Journeys of Robert Rene Caielier, Sieur
de La Salle (1905), edited by Isaac Joslin Cox. A notable account
of this expedition is Francis Parkman s La Salle and the Discovery of
the Great West (about 1869).
Historian Herbert Eugene Bolton s Spanish Exploration in the
Southwest, 1542-1706 (1916) and Spanish Borderlands (1921) treat
of the early visits to Texas of conquistadores and adventurers. Hubert
Howe Bancroft (1832-1918) spanned the period from 1851 to 1888
in his two-volume History of Texas and the North Mexican States
(1890), in which work particular emphasis is placed upon the early
period of exploration.
Writings of the early mission period were largely confined to ac
counts by inspectors sent by kings of Spain to review the condition of
the country. A notable exception is Fray Juan Agustin Morfi s His
tory of Texas, 1673-1779. Fray Morfi was a contemporary of the
Texas missionaries, and his account of the times has been translated
( J 935) by Dr. Carlos E. Castarieda, an authority on the history of the
Spanish era. Doctor Castaneda s Our Catholic Heritage in Texas,
1519-1936 (1936- ), and John Dawson Gilmary Shea s History of
the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes of the United States,
1529-1854 (1855) embody many of the reports, messages, and other
writings of the Spaniards in Texas.
In 1819, in Paris, was published a novel by an anonymous author,
L Heroine du Texas, the action of which takes place at a Trinity River
settlement and in the Galveston of Jean Lafitte. This stilted story of
the French colony of Champ d Asile, having for its heroine a young
woman "of rich proportions," is believed to be the first novel ever
published with a Texas background. It has been translated by Donald
126 TEXAS
Joseph and edited by Fanny E. Ratchford in The Story of Champ
d Asile (1937).
Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836) brought the works of Sir Walter
Scott and Sismondi with his first colony in 1821, and many of the men
who joined him gave precious space in their wagons to well-treasured
volumes, but reading had to be distinctly secondary to plowing and
fighting; an early traveler in Texas wrote, "The bookcase may be half
full of books and half full of potatoes." And those who read the books
did not write new ones. The first volume printed in Texas, A Trans
lation of Laws, Orders and Contracts on Colonization (1829), was
published by Austin. His cousin, Mary Austin Holley, wrote, in 1833,
the first history in English of Texas, much of it descriptive of Austin s
venture.
Since Texas biography, quite naturally, has dealt principally with
the picturesque and powerful characters who were active in establishing
the Republic, it is not surprising that Austin s career inspired the State s
outstanding biographical work, The Life of Stephen F. Austin, by
Eugene C. Barker (1925). In it Doctor Barker, professor of history
at the University of Texas and for years editor of the Quarterly of the
Texas State Historical Association, illuminatingly traces the social back
ground and the social and political influences which shaped the destiny
of the Father of Texas and his colony.
Among Austin s contemporaries was General Sam Houston (1793-
1863), whose heroic career has produced much biographical and his
torical literature. Although Houston s writings were confined largely
to letters, public messages, reports and speeches, those who have written
about him are many. The Raven (1929), by Marquis James, well
annotated and thoroughly reliable historically although in the opinion
of some critics slightly too favorable to Houston on certain controversial
subjects is the best biography of the General. It restores to life one
of the most dramatic figures in American history, and tells the story of
the man and his times with understanding and clarity. A work less
readable but with greater wealth of source material is the Life and
Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas, a 672-page volume
written in collaboration with Mrs. Margaret Houston, the General s
widow, by William Carey Crane (c. 1884).
Another figure of this period, Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar ( 1 798-
1859), was one of the State s first poets. His volume of Verse Memo
rials (1857) contains several romantic poems of merit, notably "The
Daughter of Mendoza." Lamar s personal letters and messages were
augmented by a vast amount of documentary and manuscript material
during his tenure of office as President of the Republic of Texas; and
this collection has been published in six volumes in The Papers of Mira
beau Buonaparte Lamar (1922-27). A modern contribution to Texas
LITE RAT U R E 127
biography of the early great is Herbert Pickens Gambrell s Mirabeau
Buonaparte Lamar, Troubadour and Crusader (1934), in which is told
the story not only of President Lamar s career but of his times as well.
As Lamar and Sam Houston were politically opposed, this work is a
story of the "other side" of Texas politics in the 1840*8 and 1 850*8.
In 1827, Noah Smithwick, an ambitious, adventure-loving boy of
seventeen, listened in Kentucky to the lure of an empresario named
Robertson who had lands to sell in Texas, and set out with a few
dollars, one change of clothing, and a rifle, to seek his fortune in what,
as he later wrote, he conceived to be a "lazy man s paradise." Being
a good blacksmith and gunsmith, Smithwick made a living from the
start, participated in the revolution, and became a solid citizen. He is
remembered, however, not because of that, but because he had a knack
with his pen. Of his journey into the colony from the coast he wrote:
"The beautiful rose color that tinged my vision of Texas through
Robertson s long distance lens paled with each succeeding step," and his
word pictures of the land and its people, particularly of the 1820*8 and
1830*8, are lucid and comprehensive. His book, The Evolution of a
State (1900), was arranged and parts of it dictated by him when he
was more than 90 years old, but his memory was crystal clear, his vision
was still not too rosily tinted, and most serious studies of early-day
Anglo-Americans in Texas quote him.
The Texas Revolution and subsequent dramatic episodes produced
a wealth of literature, including the autobiography of David Crockett,
Exploits and Adventures in Texas (1837), on ^y the fi rst P art believed
to have been written by Crockett ; the remainder by an unknown con
temporary. Although little meritorious verse was written in early
Texas, principally because venturesome pioneers fighting for land or
life in a new country are not likely to be poets or lovers of poetry, one
sonorous composition, "The Hymn of the Alamo," was penned, soon
after the heroic event that it commemorated, by Captain Reuben M.
Potter. Historians found in the sweeping epic of a land under chang
ing flags ample dramatic materials to chronicle and interpret. The very
competent works of William Kennedy (1841) and Henderson Yoakum
(1855) were written when the period of the revolution was still fresh
in memory.
Texas adventure fiction in English had its beginning with a story,
supposedly by Anthony Ganilh, bearing the unimaginative title, Mexico
versus Texas (1838). In 1842, General Thomas Jefferson Green was
a member of the ill-fated party which invaded Mexico and at the town
of Mier was forced to surrender, and following his escape from the
prison of Perote he wrote the Journal of the Texian Expedition Against
Mier (1845).
In 1844 appeared in print a w r ork of real distinction which became
128 TEXAS
a best seller of its day, the Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition,
by George Wilkins Kendall (1800-68), excellent journalist and first
of the great modern war correspondents (see Tour 17 d). Another
widely circulated book of this period is Josiah Gregg s Commerce of
the Prairies (1844), which had six editions in English and three in
German within 13 years.
In 1843, in Leipzig, was published Captain Frederick Marryat s
Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora and
Western Texas, a piece of romantic fiction which, although highly
inaccurate, had its place in the field of imaginative writing.
With few exceptions, every book worthy of note by a Texan or
dealing with Texas up to this time had been reportorial rather than
creative; but now a novelist appeared whose prolific work, although
based upon authentic background and personal experience, was sheer
fiction.
To New Orleans in 1840 had come Mayne Reid (1818-83), a
dashing youth from Ireland who sought and found adventure up the
Red River with trappers, buffalo hunters, and Indian warriors. He
received a lieutenant s commission in the Mexican War, led a charge
and was severely wounded at Chapultepec, and was commended in offi
cial dispatches. With peace achieved, he wrote a war romance, The
Rifle Rangers (1850), which was followed in 1851 by The Scalp
Hunters, and then by The Boy Hunters and many another tale of
adventure by land and sea, which made him one of the most widely
read and successful writers of the period. Nearly all his books were
translated into French, and some into German. Although most of his
last 30 years were spent in England, many of his stories dealt with the
American Southwest, of which the best is considered to have been The
Headless Horseman (1867), based on a Texas legend.
The period of early German immigration was highly productive of
descriptive literature. Notable is the work of Carl, Prince of Solms-
Braunfels, the colonizer, entitled Texas, a Description of Its Geo
graphical, Social and Other Conditions, with Special Reference to
German Colonization. It was published at Frankfort-on-the-Main in
1846, and presents a sorry picture of the Anglo-Americans and Amer
icanized Germans in Texas. Of the latter he said, "I admonish my
immigrating countrymen to be twice as cautious with them." Solms-
Braunfels was followed by Viktor Bracht, who wrote Texas in 1848,
a book of general description, and by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, another
German, who in 1849 published at Bonn his Texas, with Particular
Reference to German Immigration and the Physical Appearance of the
Country, Described Through Personal Observation (translated by
Oswald Mueller, 1935). A fine geographical and economic study,
Doctor Roemer s work is notable for its vivid description of the times.
LITERATURE 129
In 1857 a volume was published which is considered by many to
be the best word picture of ante bellum life in Texas, A Journey
Through Texas, or, A Saddle Trip on the Southwestern Frontier, by
the brilliant New York landscape artist and architect Frederick Law
Olmsted (1822-1903). The work of a contemporary of Olmsted s,
John C. Duval (1819-97), although his Early Times in Texas did
not appear in print until 1892 and its half-fictional sequel The Young
Explorers a little later, also belongs to the ante bellum period. Duval,
a Kentuckian, had attended the University of Virginia, was a survivor
of the Fannin massacre at Goliad, led subsequently a life of high ad
venture, and possessed a keen and individual outlook. The quality of
his writings, which also included a biography, The Adventures of Big-
Foot Wallace, The Texas Ranger and Hunter (1885), entitles him,
in the opinion of at least one recognized authority, to be called the
Father of Texas Literature.
Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919), who became a highly popular novelist
with more than 60 published books between 1870 and 1913, lived in
Texas from 1854 to 1869, and much about the State is in her romances
and in her autobiography, All the Days of My Life (1913)-
During the era of the cattle trails a poem with a Texas theme was
published which reached the ears of multitudes because it long was a
standby for elocutionists from coast to coast. It had many stanzas;
its heroine was the Mexican girl whose name it bore, "Lasca"; and its
climax was a tragic cattle stampede. Its author, Frank Desprez, has no
other work listed in anthologies, but this one had fire and rhythm, and
typified, although romantically, cowboy life and perilous adventure along
the Rio Grande. Its opening:
I want free life and I want free air
And I sigh for the canter after the cattle;
The crack of whips like shots in battle,
The medley of hoofs and horns and heads
That wars and wrangles and scatters and spreads;
The green beneath and the blue above,
And dash and danger, and life and love,
And Lasca.
From then until now, cowboys, cattle drives, and the activities of
range and ranch have inspired many good books and a host of lesser
ones. The classic writers of cowboy life are Charles A. Siringo and
Andy Adams. A phenomenal sale greeted Siringo s A Texas Cowboy,
or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony, when it
appeared in paper-back form in 1886, although his best-known work is
Riata and Spurs (1912). The Log of a Cowboy (1903), Adams first
work, has been called the finest piece of fiction about "cows and cow
people." In 1883 Alex E. Sweet and J. Armoy Knox, originators of
Texas Sif tings, produced On a Mexican Mustang, Through Texas
I3O TEXAS
from the Gulf to the Rio Grande, introducing humor and satire into
cowboy literature. J. W. Wilbarger s Indian Depredations in Texas
(1889), illustrated with woodcuts attributed by some authorities to O.
Henry, is a reliable description of Indian rights. Among the most
colorful factual accounts of Texas pioneer life and of cowboys is Trail
Drivers of Texas (1923-24), in two volumes, collected and edited by
George W. Saunders and J. Marvin Hunter.
In 1882 a young North Carolinian named William Sidney Porter
(1862-1910), who was to become the most widely read short-story
writer of his day, drifted into Texas, lived briefly on a ranch, worked as
bookkeeper, land office draftsman, and bank clerk in Austin, published
there a little magazine called The Rolling Stone, and served as a news
paper reporter in San Antonio and Houston. Indicted for a bank em
bezzlement of several years before, he fled to Honduras, returned, was
convicted in 1898, and was sent to a Federal prison. Texas Rangers,
sheriffs, cowboys, outlaws, and other direct actionists later appeared in
many of the tales written by him under his pseudonym, O. Henry. An
outstanding example of his stories with a Texas background is A De
partmental Case.
Until the last decade of the nineteenth century, writers resident in
Texas numbered none of note whose literary work was not incidental to
other occupations. The first to make authorship an exclusive profes
sion was Mollie E. Moore Davis (1847-1909), who came from Ala
bama and wrote fiction of the Texas border, plantation life, and the
prairies; her best-known work is Under the Man-Pig (1895), a tale
of the Civil War, in which the dominant symbol is a fig tree to which
was attached a legend that had given it a strange name. During this
period was published John Henry Brown s History of Texas, 1685-
1892 (1892-93). Notable later histories have included With the
Makers of Texas (1904), by Herbert Eugene Bolton and Eugene C.
Barker, and Bolton s Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century (1915).
Most recent works of this character claiming completeness are A His
tory of Texas, from Wilderness to Commonwealth, by Louis J. Wort-
ham (1924), and Texas Under Many Flags, by Clarence R. Wharton
(1930).
Almost without exception, notable Texas professional writing of the
present century has dealt with some aspect of Texas life or history.
Dorothy Scarborough (1877-1935), a native Texan who became na
tionally known both as a writer and as associate professor of English
at Columbia, wrote one of the first successful novels with a Texas back
ground, The Wind (1925). Its scene west Texas, it attracted wide
attention for the realistic manner in which it dealt with ranch life dur
ing the drought of 1885. A valuable contribution to Texas literature,
published in the same year, was her On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs,
LITERATURE 131
of which she wrote, "Folk songs are shy, elusive things. If you wish
to capture them, you have to steal up behind them unbeknownst, and
sprinkle salt on their tails." Texas folklore and folksongs, in which
the State has been enriched from many a divergent source, have been
painstakingly collected and proficiently analyzed in the works of John
Avery Lomax, twice president of the American Folklore Society, organ
izer of the Folklore Society of Texas, and co-author, with Dr. H. Y.
Benedict, of The Book of Texas (1916).
The best known works of J. Frank Dobie, such as Coronado s
Children (1930) and A Vaquero of the Brush Country (1929), have
their roots deep in the soil of Texas. Walter Prescott Webb s The
Great Plains, a Loubat prize winner in 1931, is a Texas social, his
torical and economic study; and his The Texas Rangers (1935), which
was made the basis for a successful screen play, is colorful history.
Ruth Cross Enchantment (1930) is a story of a Texas girl in New
York, and her Biff Road (1931) a novel of the Texas cotton country.
The scene of John W. Thomason, Jr. s Gone to Texas (1937) is the
State immediately after the Civil War. Edwin Lanham s The Wind
Blew West (1935) novelizes a delusive north Texas land boom.
Donald Joseph s Octobers Child (1929) has a Texas village and uni
versity setting. Eugene Cunningham s tales, such as Triggernometry, a
Gallery of Gunfighters (1934) and Red Shirts of Destiny (1935) deal
with Southwestern characters. Barry Benefield s Chicken Wagon
Family (1929) recounts the drif tings of a young Texan from the State
University to the East, and back again to Texas. Some of Katharine
Anne Porter s stories, collected in Flowering Judas and Other Stories
( I 935) an d Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939), have a Texas background,
notably her tragic "Noon Wine" in the latter book. George Sessions
Perry s Walls Rise Up (1939) deals with fishing folk on the Brazos.
Margaret Bell Houston (Mrs. M. L. Kauffman), granddaughter of the
General, has a Texas heroine in Hurdy-Gurdy (1932), and in Magic
Valley (1934) tells of a gi f l on a Texas ranch. Charles Curtis Munz s
Land Without Moses (1937) realistically depicts the life of a mistreated
east Texas sharecropping family. J. Frank Davis Almanzar (1920)
is a fictional study of white and Negro contacts in Texas, and his The
Road to San Jacinto (1936) is a romance of the Texas Revolution.
Even in some of the poetry of Karle Wilson Baker (Charlotte Wilson)
and Grace Noll Crowell, the State s best-known verse writers, each with
several volumes to her credit, the influence of the section can be dis
cerned.
Cabeza de Vaca, with good reason to dislike the land upon which his
sixteenth century book reported, wrote, of leaving it : "The delight we
felt let each one conjecture, when he shall remember the length of time
we were in that country, the suffering and perils we underwent."
132 TEXAS
Most of De Vaca s modern successors who came from beyond the
State s borders have been delighted to remain, finding in Texas an ever-
blowing breeze of independence and individualism, which constantly re
freshes inspiration.
The Theater
THE theater in Texas never had to struggle against the violent
prejudice that greeted it in the Puritan-settled parts of America.
From early days, it was a welcome relaxation from the hard
ships the pioneers experienced, and Houston and Matagorda each had
a theater before it had a church. The first one, built in Houston, was
opened on June 11, 1838. Visiting professional companies came to
Texas during the days of the Republic, appearing chiefly at settlements
which were accessible by water.
In 1845, Joseph Jefferson, then seventeen, appearing with his par
ents, was one of the first of many famous actors to find their way to
Texas. When the railroads began to make overland travel relatively
simple, the professional theater followed close behind them. Six months
after the rails reached Dallas, in 1872, an opera house was built there,
and opera houses for touring companies became recognized institutions
for growing towns, with many built between 1890 and 1910.
Stars such as Edwin Booth, Edwin Forrest, Helena Modjeska,
Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Mansfield, and Lily Langtry regularly in
cluded the State in their tours, and Texans were noted among members
of the theatrical profession for their enthusiastic support of Shake
spearian productions. Response to touring companies increased until,
as recounted by Irene Franklin in a recent memoir of her early ex
periences, she was able to spend 50 weeks in Texas doing one-night
stands.
133
1 34 TEXAS
When, in the years immediately following the World War, various
influences combined to decrease and finally well-nigh abolish road tours
by "legitimate" companies, this State, because of its distance from New
York and Chicago, was among the first to suffer. Since then, perform
ances by traveling actors have been comparatively rare. Occasional com
panies, usually in plays that have achieved New York financial success,
visit the larger cities, but the younger generation in large sections of
Texas has had little opportunity to witness professional acting except
upon the screen.
In 1909 Stark Young, who was teaching for a few years at the
University of Texas, founded a college dramatic association there, the
Curtain Club, which was the first organization in Texas to herald
modern expression in nonprofessional play production. With the de
cline and virtual disappearance of road shows, the Little Theater move
ment became very active, with groups in many towns and cities, some of
which are still flourishing, conspicuously those in Dallas, Houston, San
Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, and Galveston.
The Dallas Little Theater, founded in 1921, is the oldest and most
outstanding, with a record of accomplishment that has gained it national
reputation. Oliver Hinsdale was its director from 1923 to 1931, and
in 1924 the organization erected its own building with a seating ca
pacity of 242, financed by patron season ticket subscribers. In 1924,
in the first New York Little Theater competition, the Dallas group won
the Belasco cup with John William Rogers powerful one-act play,
Judge Lynch, and, with other plays, repeated that feat in the two suc
ceeding years. A new theater was built in 1928, which seated 650.
A large overhead expense and debts incurred through expansion, fol
lowed by the depression, resulted in the group s loss of the building
in 1937, an d tne following season s offerings were given in the Old
Circle Theater downtown. The Little Theater of Dallas underwent
financial reorganization in 1938 and regained control of its former home,
where productions were resumed.
Maintained at the playhouse is a theatrical library, and the work of
local painters, etchers, sculptors, and architectural designers, is ex
hibited.
Besides the Little Theater groups, which present a stated number of
carefully prepared productions each season, the larger cities and many
of the smaller ones contain organizations in which, less regularly,
amateurs find opportunity to cultivate their talents and keep alive the
spoken drama. In 1936 and 1937, at Dallas, Houston, and San An
tonio, stage performances were also given under the direction of the
Federal Theater Project of the Works Progress Administration.
Relatively few native or resident Texans have been playwrights.
George Scarborough, a generation ago, was known on Broadway for
THE THEATER 135
plays which included The Son Daughter, The Heart of Wetona, and
Moonlight and Happiness. Stark Young has written one border play,
The Colonnade. Ten short plays by John William Rogers of Dallas
are published, listed in a dozen anthologies, and widely performed
throughout the country, most notable among them being Judge Lynch,
with which the Dallas Little Theater won its first Belasco cup, and
Bumblepuppy. His full-length play Roam Though I May, first pro
duced by the Dallas Little Theater, has been published and is one of the
few comedies with a modern authentic Texas background to have re
ceived recognition. Of the plays by J. Frank Davis, of San Antonio,
The Ladder ran in New York for many months, and the burlesque
1890 melodrama Gold in the Hills has had hundreds of Little Theater
productions. Jan Isbel Fortune of Dallas, who had been successful with
historical radio dramas, came into further prominence for the series of
dramatic episodes built on Texas history that were in the Cavalcade of
Texas, produced very successfully at the Dallas Centennial Exposition
in 1936.
On the stage and in the motion picture, Texas has contributed stars
who include Maclyn Arbuckle, Charlotte Walker, Gene Autry, Bebe
Daniels, Joan Crawford, Tom Mix, Ginger Rogers, Ann Sutherland,
Mary Brian, and Madge Bellamy. Howard Hughes has distinguished
himself as a picture producer, and King Vidor as a director.
Two notable theater collections have been started in the State, in
the Mary McCord Theater Museum at Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, and the University of Texas Library in Austin. Both these
collections are comprehensive in their aim and include a wide range of
programs and relics from all over the world as well as souvenirs asso
ciated with the theater of Texas and the Southwest.
Music
FOR centuries, the music of Texas has inherited color from Spain
and Mexico, from countries of eastern Europe, and from many
an American State. The earnest spirituals and melodious work
songs of the American Negro have contributed to it. The ballads of
the cowboy are indigenous.
The first music schools within the present boundaries of the United
States were those of Texas missions, in which Indian neophytes were
taught to sing the ritual music of the Franciscans. Fray Juan Agustin
Morfi in 1778 wrote, of Mission San Jose: "These Indians . . . are
today well instrumented and civilized. . . . Many play the harp, the
violin, and the guitar well, sing well . . ."
Spanish and Mexican folk songs influenced the ballads of the
Taqueros, one of which, "La Paloma" (The Dove), is still frequently
heard. Its second verse is an excellent example of this type of Texas
music :
If at your window a dove
Should arrive,
Treat it with fondness
Because it is just like
my person;
Tell it all your loves,
Love of my life,
Crown it with flowers because
It is mine.
136
MUSIC 137
To this day the making of new ballads has flourished among the peo
ple of Mexican birth or descent. Each warm, clear evening, on the
streets and plazas in the Mexican Quarter of San Antonio, strolling
troubadours with guitars offer the songs of their people. It is not
rare for a new ballad to come into being, based on some humorous or
tragic happening of the day. Its tune may be of the moment and spon
taneous, or it may be an old melody. Typical of the Mexican folk songs
is "Alia en el Rancho Grande," popularly called "Rancho Grande, "
which begins:
Down on the big ranch, down where I lived,
There was a rancherita who merrily said to me,
Who merrily said to me,
I m going to make you a pair of breeches,
Like the ones the rancher uses.
I ll begin making them of wool,
And I ll finish them in leather.
The Mexican is best at singing love songs, and he sings them with
pathos, in seemingly interminable verses.
In the iSso s the musical activities of that part of Texas which had
been settled by immigration from the United States were much the same
as obtained in any of the middle Southern States, except that westward-
moving pioneers carried few musical instruments. Here and there was
an immigrant who had brought his fiddle, but music for the dance was
likely to be improvised. Rhythm was secured by primitive means ;
Noah Smithwick (see Literature) wrote of a musician who performed
on a clevis, or plow-iron, while a companion scraped on a cotton hoe
with a case knife.
The Alamo Star (San Antonio), on August 26, 1854, m describ
ing a ball, said:
A band of German musicians were in attendance, who altho their . . .
music was not the best in the world, yet it was of such a cast as to
arouse the latent feelings of man s nature.
Tunes usually were of the popular or folk variety; music of the
classic type could hardly be expected to have penetrated to the fron
tiers. But as early as 1839 operatic airs were heard in the theaters of
Houston. The Morning Star of December 17 announced, in an item
about the opening of the Houston Theatre, that following a presenta
tion of "The Blue Devils or The Hypochondriac," "the orchestra will
execute Reini s (Rossini s) celebrated overture to II Tancredi to be fol
lowed by che popular operetta of Turn Out or the Enraged Politician."
German settlers in the 1840*5, and the French in 1854, brought their
native music.
During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national
significance. Its practical purpose is well known it was used primarily
to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and con-
138 TEXAS
tinuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also
sang because he liked to sing, and he was a spontaneous composer, creat
ing ballads as he rode, often about some incident of the day s work. In
this music of the range and trail is "the grayness of the prairies, the
mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the
gait of the cowboy s pony." Of those early ballads there is no author
ship record, and there are few of them that probably were not amended
and added to by many singers. The men who devised them did not
think of themselves as composers, and in addition they were modest. As
one cowboy song puts it, "My name is nothing extry, so that I will not
tell."
John A. Lomax, collector of cowboy ballads, saved much of this
folk music from possible oblivion by his publications and phonograph
recordings. Relatively recent arrangements of some of the melodies
have made them nationally popular, notably that by Oscar J. Fox of
San Antonio, and David Guion of Dallas and New York, of "Home
on the Range" (song) which dates from 1872. The "Cowboy s La
ment" (Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie), which is as old as
cowboy music, has been given new life by frequent public singing. And
although it is not an old song but an original one by Fox, "The Hills
of Home" is in the spirit and style of the past.
Companions to the cowboy songs are those dealing with Texas bad
men, such as "Sam Bass," and the song about Billy the Kid, in which
the retribution that came to that desperado is simply stated:
But one day he met a man who was a whole lot badder,
And now he s dead, and we ain t none the sadder.
Immigrants from other States brought their own ballads, some from
other countries, and adapted them to Texas. "Weaver John" came
from Ireland. An indigenous ballad called "Rattlesnake" is an adapta
tion of "Springfield Mountain," which originated in Massachusetts not
long after the middle of the eighteenth century.
Indigenous spirituals are an interesting phase of Texas Negro folk
ways. There are Negro song leaders and verse makers who "call"
the words at church, going from one group to another like old time cir
cuit riders. Examples of the songs spread by their "calling" are "Jesus
Rides a Milk White Hoss," "I m New Bawn," and "My Lawd s a
Battle Ax." In the last-named the climax exults, "Oh, my Lawd s a
battle ax, a shelter in de time of storm." Most of the Negro folk
music is religious, but it also includes work songs, such as this one for
cotton-picking time:
Wouldn t drive so hard hut I needs de earn,
Wouldn t drive so hard but I needs de earn,
Snatchin an a-crammin it in my sack,
Gotta have some cotton ef it breaks my back.
M U S I C 139
Texas was the home of white spirituals, also, some of which still
are occasionally sung at old-fashioned camp meetings in groves or under
arbors in a few sections of the State. An outstanding example of the
type is "Oh, for My Soul s Happy," with the ecstatic refrain:
Oh, for my soul s happy,
Glory hallelujah!
Oh, for my soul s happy,
I m on my journey home.
Sacred Harp music is so important in east Texas that there are
12 sectional conventions affiliated with the State Convention, with a
membership from the Red River to the Gulf (see Tour 2}.
Texans of German descent have continued their pioneer musical
activities, and hold regular Saengerfests which are major social events.
In cities, and even in the rural districts where the German language is
spoken, clubs and societies gather weekly to sing Volkslieder (folk
songs). Many community clubs are affiliated with the Texas Gebirgs-
Saengerbund or the Texas State Saengerbund, whose conventions are
often attended by 4,000 people.
In the State s 18 major colleges and 15 State colleges are flourishing
music departments, with the exception of the Agricultural and Mechan
ical College of Texas. Music in the public schools is fostered by the
State Department of Education, under the direction of a State Super
intendent of Public Instruction, and a State Director of Music.
Probably the most distinguished native musical son was Frank van
der Stucken (1858-1928), a noted composer and conductor. He was
born in Fredericksburg and educated in music from the age of eight at
Antwerp and Leipzig. Great distinction as a pianist has been attained
by Olga Samaroff (born Lucy Hickenlooper in San Antonio). Harold
von Mickwitz, once resident in Dallas and Sherman, is a pianist and
teacher whose influence on the development of young musicians in Texas
has been widely acknowledged. Grace Stewart Potter, formerly of
Fort Worth, was a well-known concert pianist a generation ago. Paul
and Viola van Katwijk, both pianists (Mr. Van Katwijk is a sym
phony conductor also) now live and teach in Dallas. Among nation
ally known concert pianists are Bomar Cramer, from Sherman, and
Harold Morris, from San Antonio. Noted Texas violinists include the
late Carl Venth, once concert master of the Metropolitan Opera in New
York, E. Clyde Whitlock of Fort Worth (who is also a symphony
orchestra concert master, conservatory teacher, choir director, and
music critic), Marius Thor of Fort Worth, and Sadah Shuchari of Dal
las. A distinguished cellist is Julian Paul Blitz, of Lubbock.
Still living native-born pioneer teachers are Mrs. D. S. Switzer,
Dallas, who began her work at Round Rock in 1873 ; Thomas Marshall
Clark, brother of Addison and Randolph Clark, who with them estab-
1 40 TEXAS
Ifshed Add-Ran College at Thorp Spring in 1873, and Horace Clark,
Houston. Invaluable historical and musicological work is being done
by Dr. Lota M. Spell, Austin.
Texas singers who have had principal roles in grand opera are
Leonora Corona, soprano (born Lenore Cohron in Dallas) ; Rafael
Diaz, tenor, and Josephine Lucchese, soprano, of San Antonio; and
Dreda Aves, mezzo soprano, of Galveston. Yvonne de Treville, world-
famous prima donna, was born in Galveston. May Peterson Thomp
son, at one time with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, resides in
Amarillo.
Texas claims several living composers who are known and heard
nationally. The largest catalogues of works published by established
houses are credited to David Guion, Oscar J. Fox, and the late Carl
Venth, previously mentioned ; William J. Marsh, Fort Worth, and W.
R. Waghorne, San Angelo. Others with imposing lists are John M.
Steinfeldt, San Antonio; Horace Clark and Hu. T. Huffmaster, Hous
ton; Radie Brittain Moeller, Amarillo and Chicago; Frank Renard,
Dallas; Eithel Allen Nelson, Wichita Falls; and Anne Stratton, Cle-
burne and Darien, Connecticut.
The Texas Federation of Music Clubs is the largest State group in
the Nation. The idea of a National Music Week is said to have been
the outgrowth of an annual Music Day in Dallas. Another Texas
project which has become country-wide in scope is the National Guild of
Piano Teachers, founded by Irl L. Allison of Abilene. Augmenting or
ganizations are the Texas Music Teachers Association and the Texas
School Band and Orchestra Directors Association. Music is repre
sented by capably edited departments in a number of the larger news
papers, and in the Southwestern Musician, published monthly by Clyde
J. Garrett, Arlington.
Grand opera tours of the major companies arid recitals by famous
artists have been well supported in the larger cities. Symphony orches
tras are established (1940) in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort
Worth, El Paso, Austin, Waco, Amarillo, and Tyler.
Arts and Handicrafts
PAINTING his pictures on sheer rock walls, the first Texas
artist was a prehistoric man perhaps a cave dweller. Of the
extensive examples of Indian picture writing and the rock
carvings known as petroglyphs, many, in semi-arid sections, were prob
ably guides to water sources. Others may have been crude historical
records of the chase or of war, and symbols belonging to elemental re
ligious mysteries.
With the Plains Indians Comanches, Kiowas, and Apaches,
nomadic hunters the distinctive art medium became the buffalo hide.
Their shields were emblazoned with the Sun, emblem of the most potent
medicine and protector of their lives. They decorated the exterior of
their tepees with representations of their heroic deeds in war and hunt
ing, and with family insignia.
East Texas Indians chiefly the Caddoes who lived in villages and
cultivated the soil were, at the coming of the white man, skilled in
pottery making, tanning, weaving, and feather working. They carved
on bone with tools made of stone and shells, and used fire to erode
their woodwork. Early travelers wrote of theeir smooth earth floors,
covered with vivid figures of birds, beasts, and flowers. Poles hung
with painted skins were set up in circles about the fire pits in such a
position as to resemble, when illuminated, a brilHantly-hued fire screen.
Many of the better domiciles were kalsomined inside with white clay,
141
142 TEXAS
the walls decorated with shields, weapons, skins, and pottery. The
women were highly proficient in the weaving of baskets.
Living in the desert, the Indians of Pueblo stock made of their art
an almost invariable prayer for rain. Their women were- skilled in
the making of baskets and pottery, and before their clay vessels were
baked the men decorated them with rain, cloud, and bird symbols,
and with charms aimed at securing a sufficiency of water and the fe
cundity of the earth.
Thus, when the white men appeared, Texas already had sincere
indigenous art. The European art which the Spaniards brought was
often amended and modified by it.
To the missions, in the early eighteenth century, came good paint
ings. In Mission San Jose and in San Fernando Cathedral, for ex
ample, dim pictures survive, some of them gifts of the kings of Spain
(see San Antonio). And classic sculpture was introduced by the
Franciscan monks, who carved figures of saints and cherubim prin
cipally, the best known example of mission art in Texas being the carved
window of the sacristy at Mission San Jose near San Antonio. This
window was done by Pedro Huizar and is considered one of the finest
works of its kind in the United States. Stone was the principal medium,
but wood attained popularity for carvings of the crucifix, images of
the saints, and ornamental doors. Much work was done, too, by Indian
neophytes, working under the direction of the mission monks, and this
soon began to display native characteristics. Clothing of many types
and colors, products of the Indian neophytes own looms and dye vats,
was placed upon the figures.
Frescoes in the missions became a commingling of Spanish and In
dian art with a native Mexican influence which is sometimes called
"the Aztec tradition." Authorities believe that the brilliantly hued and
symmetrical patterns outlining arches and windows, both exterior and
interior, were not only incorporated to attract the natives to the church
by satisfying their love for color and perhaps including some of their
own religious symbolism, but in many cases were the actual work of the
Indians, a combination of Christian and pagan expression.
The architecture of the missions and of the better residences which
developed in the larger communities during the next century was in
fluenced by Mexican craftsmen who worked in iron and copper and
who fashioned door hinges, bolts, decorative flat studs, and window
grilles.
Following the arrival of Austin and his Anglo-American colonists
in the third decade of the nineteenth century, the characteristics of a
part of Texas became those of the western United States of that day
rather than of Spain and Mexico. To the immigrants from the North
American republic Texas was a far frontier, and on every frontier
ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS 143
necessity takes precedence over art. Yet before 1836 there was at least
one silversmith in Texas; and from 1836 through the pioneer era, sev
eral men were at work in this field. Of these, Samuel Bell of San
Antonio was perhaps the outstanding representative. Cabinetmaking
flourished; in nearly all the older towns appeared furniture made by-
local pioneer craftsmen, that of Paul Maureaux of San Antonio, a
Frenchman, being probably the most distinguished in workmanship.
In the 1840 $, under the Texas Republic, began a great expansion
of population, and the establishment of French and German communi
ties with their traditional crafts and their professionally trained painters.
A pioneer artist was Theodore Gentilz, a Frenchman who came in
1844 with Castro s colony. Gentilz walked from Castroville to his
studio in San Antonio, a distance of 30 miles, because the city was the
nearest market for his work, often pausing on the way to trade a sketch
for buffalo meat at an Indian camp. Comanche Chief and Camp of
Lipanes are two of his best known works. A few of his paintings are
in the collection of the Yanaguana Society, San Antonio.
Hermann Lungkwitz and Richard Petri, German gentlemen, came
to Fredericksburg as colonists in that same decade. They went to the
barnyard armed against surprise attacks by Indians, and their wives,
attired in the stiff silks brought from Europe, milked the cows while
they painted. Milk for Breakfast, by Petri, shows one of these milking
scenes.
Eugenie Lavender had shared the grandeur of the French court
under the Bourbons, Louis Phillipe, and the third Napoleon, and had
won acclaim in Europe, yet because Texas offered a new field for her
art, she came here in 1851. Her husband, a professor, was held captive
for a time by Indians, and the Lavenders fought prairie fires and
killed rattlesnakes. Mrs. Lavender, having exhausted her supply of
paints, made colors from herbs, leaves, and flowers. The Lavenders
lived for some time in Corpus Christi, where much of her work re
mains; notable is her Saint Patrick in the cathedral there.
Other pioneer painters of distinction were Edward Grenet, whose
Romana was accepted by the Paris Salon; Carl G. von Iwonski, Ger
man portrait painter (represented in the Witte Memorial Museum, San
Antonio) ; and Louise Hueser Wueste, some of whose portraits are
privately owned in San Antonio.
The development of large plantations with slave labor in the ante
bellum era was marked by highly skilled Negro craftsmanship. "Every
farm," wrote G. L. Cracket, "had its workers in iron, wood, leather,
and other necessary articles. Horses were shod . . . houses put up,
harnesses and shoes manufactured, cotton and wool spun and woven."
He wrote of a young slave blacksmith s product that it was "not only
solid and neat but nice and workmanlike, even artistic." This slave
144 TEX A S
craftsmanship was, however, wholly along the lines taught by the white
man. Perhaps because in the early days of Anglo-American immigra
tion to Texas the Negro bondsmen were relatively few in number and
often worked side by side with the whites, any influence of primitive
African art, such as marked slavery days in some other States, was
negligible.
Modern sculpture in Texas began with Elizabet Ney, the great
German individualist, who had won recognition in her native land be
fore emigrating to this country in 1870. Protegee of the master sculp
tor, Christian Rauch, she was the friend of Cosima, daughter of Liszt,
and of such men as Schopenhauer, Baron von Liebig, and members of
the Hanoverian royal family, while the kings of Bavaria and Prussia
were her patrons. Yet she came with her husband to the wilds of
Texas and settled near Hempstead on the plantation Liendo (see Tour
240). Here for several years she was content to mould the lives of her
two children, one of whom died here in her arms. Hardship and heart
break were hers, but finally she was summoned to Austin to make
sculptures for the new capitol building. Here she established her
studio, now a museum.
One of the ambitions of Elizabet Ney in coming to Texas was that
she might establish an academy of liberal arts, and this she did in
formally in her studio, so that now she is credited with having initiated
formal art education in the State. Her statues of Sam Houston and
Stephen F. Austin are in the Hall of Statuary at Washington, and
duplicates are in the lobby of the State capitol. Washington officials
complained because Houston s statue was tall, Austin s short. Elizabet
replied, "God Almighty made the men; I only made the statues."
Another pioneer sculptor was Frank Teich, who settled in San
Antonio in 1883. For many years until his death at the age of 83,
in January, 1939, he was a resident of Llano and the "grand old man"
of sculpture in Texas, with at least 25 major creations to his credit.
As mighty herds of longhorns went up the cattle trails, wealth came
in, and there were strivings for culture such as theretofore had not
been possible. The socially and politically prominent had their like
nesses preserved for posterity, and encouraged the painting of Texas
historical scenes and landscapes. William Henry Huddle was a por-
trayer of statesmen, and his Surrender of Santa Anna hangs in the
entrance hall of the capitol building at Austin. H. S. McArdle painted
historical scenes; his Dawn at the Alamo and Battle of San Jacinto are
in the Senate chamber. Robert J. Onderdonk loved to paint hazy sun
set scenes, indolent Mexican women, and missions bathed in soft sun
light ; some of his work is in the collection of Eleanor Onderdonk, his
daughter, in San Antonio.
None of these, however, was a native Texan, and such Texans as
ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS 145
went East to study art usually, if they succeeded, remained there.
Not until about 1900 was there sufficient wealth, leisure, and art-con
sciousness in the State to make possible the establishment of good art
schools and museums. The Texas Fine Arts Association and the Eliz-
abet Ney Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Dallas
Museum of Fine Arts, and the Fort Worth Museum of Art all were
established during the first 12 years of the twentieth century.
Texas landscapes first became nationally known through the Onder-
donks, father and son. The younger man Julian painted the first
bluebonnet fields to become popular, although his work was by no means
limited to this subject. (Paintings by Julian Onderdonk are in the art
museums of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth.) He was
among the first Texas artists to be influenced by impressionism. Others
similarly influenced have been Frank Reaugh, sometimes called the dean
of American painters, whose paintings are principally cattle and ranch
scenes; Jose Arpa, Spanish born, who came to San Antonio by way of
Mexico and reveled in picturing hot sunshine; E. G. Eisenlohr, whose
technique of broad brush strokes or bold palette knife is often expressed
in landscapes; Hale Bolton, Olive Travis, Reveau Bassett, and Frank
Klepper. Of these and many other artists who have perpetuated Texas
scenes it has been said that they have their roots deep in "dusty roads
beneath fulsome sunshine . . . the blooming cactus and hillsides of
blue lupin." Whether they paint gaunt longhorns, broad landscapes,
or soft-eyed seiioritas, their subjects are usually distinctively native.
Since the development, following the World War, of the American
trends in painting which have found principal expression by such men
as Benton and Wood in the United States and Rivero and Orosco in
Mexico, a number of Texas artists have done work of that type which
has won critical praise. Notable among them is Alexandre Hogue of
Dallas, an interpreter of the dust bowl area, whose dramatic painting
Drouth Survivors, 1936, was purchased by the French government and
is included in the collections of the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris.
Other notable moderns in Texas are Edmund Kinzinger of Baylor
University, who in Germany was a member of the Central European
abstractionists and was closely associated with the establishment of
the New Bauhaus in Chicago, and Kathleen Blackshear of Navasota,
for several years a member of the Chicago Art Institute faculty, who
aside from her painting has achieved recognition by her diagrammatic
illustrations for Helen Gardener s history, Art Through the Ages.
Fully 30 others, principally of the younger generation, are painting
realistically and with native inspiration and a sincerity that promises a
steadily rising strength for the art of Texas.
Most appropriate to a State which once was a part of Mexico and
which contains many people of Mexican birth or descent has been the
I 46 TEX A S
influence in painting of Diego Rivero and his pupils. The Mexican
crafts have not needed restoration ; they have remained intact in those
sections of Texas where Mexicans are numerous, and except for drawn-
work and tinwork, in which there is Anglo-American competition, are
still a Mexican field. Pottery, glass, tile, hand-made furniture, and
some weaving, is done by people of trans-Rio Grande blood, chiefly in
the San Antonio district, and there is a considerable production of
hand-made lanterns, candle holders, nichos (niches for holy pictures),
and similar articles.
The Texas Fine Arts Association, organized in 1911 and con
verting the studio of Elizabet Ney into a State art center, has fostered
general interest in art by furthering educational movements, by spon
soring exhibits, both those of individuals and circuits, and through
affiliated clubs. Another helpful influence is the State Interscholastic
League, conducted by the University of Texas, which holds annual art
competitions among school students.
Great impetus was given Texas art in 1927, when Edgar B. Davis,
Luling oil operator and philanthropist (see Tour zjb), inaugurated,
under the auspices of the San Antonio Art League, a series of three
annual competitions for oil paintings of Texas subjects, with prizes
aggregating $53,000. Many nationally known artists participated.
Exhibits of the Southern States Art League, of the Grand Central
Galleries of New York, and of other art centers, as well as one-man
shows, make well-rounded art seasons in the larger cities. The major
universities and colleges have or are incorporating departments of art.
Through the efforts of the Reverend W. L. Turner, a prominent
Southern minister and former missionary to Africa, Bishop College and
Wiley University in Marshall have recently installed museum deposi
taries of African art and American Negro art, sponsored by the African
Museum Association and African art societies, of which there are
branches in both colleges. A Bishop College alumnus, Samuel Albert
Countee, who was born in Houston in 1909, was represented by a paint
ing in the Hall of Negro Life at the Texas Centennial Exposition of
1936 in Dallas, and received a scholarship at the school of the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts. The Dallas City Federation of Colored
Womens Clubs sponsors an annual spring exhibit of Negro art handi
craft.
Internationally known Texas artists include Seymour Thomas, por
trait painter, Murray Bewley, best known for his studies of children,
and the late Mary Bonner, famous etcher. Best known of the marine
painters are the late Boyer Gonzales and Paul Schumann. Dawson
Dawson-Watson of San Antonio specialized in paintings of cactus in
bloom. Tom Lea of El Paso has a mural in the Post Office Depart
ment Building in Washington, and murals in the El Paso Post Office
ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS 147
The majority of native Texas sculptors are women. Bonnie Mac-
Cleary, born in San Antonio, has won international recognition, her
commissions having included one from the Irish Free State and the
Columbus monument in Puerto Rico, and her work is in the Metropol
itan Museum of Art, New York, and the Brooklyn Children s Museum.
Her bronze statue of Ben Milam is in the park that bears his name in
San Antonio. Another distinguished Texas sculptor is Waldine
Amanda Tauch, whose first successful piece was a figure of a woman
churning, modeled in butter, which was exhibited at a county fair.
Her Gulf Breeze, in bronze, is on display at the Witte Memorial
Museum, San Antonio. Allie Victoria Tennant, winner of many
awards for portrait sculptures, is a resident of Dallas.
Dorothy Austin specializes in sculptured portrayals of the Negro.
Clyde Chandler s Sidney Smith Memorial Fountain in the Dallas fair
grounds is an imposing creation featuring the Gulf Cloud, a symbolic
figure. Edwin E. Smith, cowboy sculptor, is known for his portrayals
of Western life. Joseph Lorkowski Boulton, whose Devil Dog is in the
Marine Barracks, Washington, is a native of Dallas. Decorative sculp
ture upon the towering commemorative monument at the San Jacinto
battlefield (see Tour 6 A) was done by William M. McVey of Hous
ton, who also has an outstanding monument to James Bowie in Texar-
kana, a statue of David Crockett in Ozona, and did the bronze doors
and exterior sculptures at the new Museum of History at the University
of Texas.
Among the Texan sculptors by adoption, none has contributed so
many pieces to the State as has Pompeo Coppini, who came to this
country from Italy in 1896. Coppini created II important Texas
memorials or monuments, including the elaborate Littlefield Memorial
in Austin and a centennial monument in Alamo Plaza, San Antonio,
in which city, also, his bronze doors depicting George Washington and
Sam Houston as Freemasons are at the main entrance to the Scottish
Rite Temple. Gutzon Borglum, spending parts of many winters in
San Antonio, made the model for a Trail Drivers Memorial on display
at the Witte Museum there, and has planned a heroic statue of Christ
for the bay front at Corpus Christi. Enrico Filberto Cerracchio, an
Italian, has created several important memorials, the best known being
his equestrian statue of General Sam Houston, in Houston.
Thurmond Townsend, a young Negro of Dallas untrained in any
art forms, modeled a life-size head of his wife in clay obtained from his
back yard, which, when completed, he took to the Dallas Art Institute,
where is was proclaimed remarkable in its primitive earnestness. The
sculpture was placed in the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library of Dallas,
and Townsend was encouraged to take up painting, since which time
his work has gained recognition in local art columns.
148 TEXAS
The largest collection of sculpture in any Texas city is in Austin,
where 24 large monuments or memorials and many smaller works
adorn the Capitol and University of Texas buildings or grounds. Sev
eral outstanding pieces are in the State cemetery there, notably Eliza-
bet Ney s reclining figure of General Albert Sidney Johnston and
Coppini s statue of Joanna Troutman.
Galveston has the imposing and elaborate Heroes of the Texas
Revolution. Houston s and San Antonio s sculpture is largely com
memorative of Texas history. Dallas has sculpture by Chandler and
Teich, and a noteworthy equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee by Phimis-
ter Proctor which was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in June, 1936. A number of smaller communities have interesting
memorials of local events, such as the monument in Gonzales (see Tour
2jb) commemorating the first battle of the Texas Revolution, and the
monument to La Salle near Navasota (see Tour 24A). Huntsville,
where Sam Houston spent his declining years, has a statue of the Gen
eral by Coppini. Much memorial sculpture in many parts of the State
was erected as part of the Texas Centennial observance. It is as true
of the State s sculpture as of its painting that, regardless of the period
or character of its execution, it almost invariably is native in subject.
Architecture
TEXAS architecture is diverse, due to wide variations in topog
raphy and climatic conditions, as well as to the many racial
strains that, at different times, came upon the scene.
The effects of two centuries of Spanish colonization have never
been erased. In the arid west, the Spanish and Mexican influence is a
dominant characteristic; here are the houses of adobe or sunbaked clay
bricks, and old missions, of the period when Spain w T as attempting
to perpetuate its power and glory in this outpost of a great colonial
empire. In the 1840*8 Texas became the magnet of a tide of European
emigration. These immigrants were largely Germans, although lesser
groups of Alsatians and Poles swelled the ranks of the newcomers. In
south central Texas, a rare type of village sprang up. After learning
to build the log cabin of the Anglo-Americans, the immigrants, in the
early iSso s, replaced this primitive type of dwelling with the stone and
half-timber (Fachwerk) houses of their native land.
From the northeast and east, however, Anglo-American immigra
tion was constantly increasing. The frontier soon receded before the
ax and plow. The log cabins of settlers from east of the Sabine
were followed by the two-room dog-run house, and, soon thereafter,
by the mansion of the Old South. In the i86o s and iSyo s the irre
sistible driving power of the American trek westward opened the high
plateaus of the northwest to settlement. Here dugouts and sprawling
ranch houses tell how the frontier was pushed across the plains.
149
1 50 TEXAS
No vestiges of the aboriginal habitations of Texas remain, other
than the smoke-blackened shelters of the cave dwellers and slab-house
ruins along the Canadian River. Texas Indians were principally
nomads, and the agricultural tribes, such as the Caddoes, had imper
manent, thatched straw, hide or earthen huts that the rainfall has long
since obliterated. Because of the scarcity of wood in western Texas,
adobe construction was borrowed from the Indians. Walls, sometimes
five feet thick, were built of sunbaked mud slabs, and clay was used for
mortar. Roofs were flat and made of adobe and leaves, laid on closely
placed saplings in herringbone pattern, or wattle. Wall-to-wall sup
ports consisted of cottonwood logs placed about two feet apart. Adobe
construction was used extensively in the western arid area, but rainfall
was a deterrent to its use in other localities.
Religion was the strongest influence during the era of the rule
of Spain (1519-1821). Missions and presidios were built at strategic
locations, and the homes of the settlers, usually of palings or stone,
clustered near their walls. Beside El Camino Real (The King s High
way), the Nacogdoches Road and other dim highways of the wilder
ness, isolated settlements sprang up. However, the failure of the east
Texas missions caused Spanish colonization to center in the area between
San Antonio and the Rio Grande, the eastern towns of San Augustine
and Nacogdoches soon becoming Anglicized.
Mission architecture reflected the Renaissance grandeur of Spain.
Built by the Franciscans greatest builders of the religious orders
the foreign influence in the design of the buildings was modified only
by the limitations imposed by the frontier. Mission establishments
usually had the same plan elements; a church with a bell tower or twin
towers ; sometimes a separate chapel for the neophytes, a granary, a grist
mill, schools and living quarters for the Indians, and quarters for the
missionaries and soldiers, all within the compound walls. At Mission
Espiritu Santo in Goliad, recent excavations have uncovered the founda
tions of corrals and Indian dwellings built in the jacal or vertical pal
ing manner, a characteristic of primitive Latin construction brought
from below the Rio Grande. Cedar posts, when available, were sunk
into the ground. The spaces between were filled with similar uprights,
probably tied with strips of hides and pegged. Usually the top was sur
mounted with a horizontal member for further stiffening, although
sometimes all the vertical members were spiked. It is believed that the
east Texas missions, which so soon disintegrated, were built in this
fashion.
In the San Antonio area tufa a porous limestone was available.
Mission San Jose is an outstanding example of the use of this material,
which was brought to a smooth finish by the use of lime mortar. Lime
and sand for mortar were found in abundance, but the Spaniards and
ARCHITECTURE 151
Mexicans often raised their masonry without mortar, filling in crevices
with chinks of suitable sizes, depending on the flow of stucco to per
meate the remaining voids.
For the student of early Spanish architecture in America, the mis
sions of the San Antonio group offer interesting examples (see San
Antonio). Mission San Jose (founded 1720) claims the greatest dis
tinction in architectural design and detail. Pedro Huizar was the
sculptor-architect of its carving, which is of the elaborate Churriguer-
esque style of the late Spanish Renaissance. The best known feature of
Mission San Jose is the baroque carved window of the sacristy. This
mission has recently been restored to some semblance of its former
grandeur under the direction of Harvey P. Smith, architect.
A notable example of the better type of Spanish residence in colonial
Texas is the restored Governors Palace in San Antonio, date of erec
tion unknown (see San Antonio).
Among the primitive Spanish types is the oldest house in east Texas,
near Milam in San Augustine County, built about 1790 by Gil Ybarbo.
It consists of two rooms, adzed cypress logs being notched into each
other at the corners. Probably the chimney and fireplace once were
stone, since stone was found on the site, but the present chimney is of
mud and bricks, the crevices being chinked with red mud and moss,
which was also used to close the cracks between the logs. Packed
earth served for a floor. There were no windows. Batten doors, two
for each room, front and back, swung inward and could be made fast
with wooden beams that fell into slotted keepers. The loopholes have
since been cut into windows.
The change from Spanish to Mexican influence was slight. From
San Antonio, Mexican culture spread into the surrounding country,
penetrating as far east as Bastrop County. In the Aaron Burleson
house near Webberville, and other buildings, a style of brickwork is
observed that is reminiscent of typically Mexican buildings along the
Rio Grande.
Except in west Texas where wood was scarce, primitive building
types of the various racial elements that invaded Texas were usually
of wood; horizontally laid log cabins with hand-split shingle roofs,
or jacal vertical paling huts with thatched roofs.
Mexican influence in the area east of San Antonio was impeded by
the coming of Anglo-American colonists, who brought with them the
frontier types of construction of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama,
and the more pretentious types of architecture of the Old South. Be
cause of the limited resources of the frontier, however, the colonists
usually confined themselves to the traditional log cabin and the dog-
run house that found its way westward from the Atlantic seaboard.
The dog-run house consisted of two rooms with an open space be-
152 TEXAS
tween, covered with a continuous, gabled roof. The dog-run or breeze
way, the open hall between the rooms, had many uses. In summer it
was a sitting room, where the washing could be hung on rainy days.
Actually, the dogs slept there, rain or shine, and so did an overflow
of guests. Viktor Bracht, writing in 1848, said, "Saddles, bird cages,
and wash basins, guns . . . and rocking chairs, cradles and dressed
skins, are sometimes stored in the shade of the porches." These houses
were built with batten doors and shutters.
Log and masonry construction was identical with that of the western
United States of that period ; the logs were hand-hewn ; the ends dove
tailed ; ashlar stonework with large, flush, quoined corners prevailed,
where stone was available. After the sawmills came, log walls were
often covered with weather-boarding.
Beginning in the early 1850*8 Anglo-American settlers in east
Texas built their homes of lumber. Pine, cypress, magnolia, and cedar
were plentiful then and were used throughout for houses. Sawmills
were gradually introduced, and although some of the millwork was un
loaded from ships at various points along the coast and transported to
destinations in the interior, much of it was made by local craftsmen.
Many of the settlers owned slaves and made bricks where clay was
available, with which they built large manor houses of the type found
in the Old South. Plantation homes, built at least partly of brick,
and brick sugar mills sprinkled the fertile bottoms of the Brazos River
(see Tour 22b). Cedar and cypress were used for making hand-split
shingles. The interior trim was often of walnut.
In east Texas, chimneys took a peculiar form. Above the fireplace
opening, on the outside, the chimney itself was offset about eight inches
and extended up the gable free of the walls. As stick-and-mud chim
neys, the type most often used, frequently burned, this was possibly done
to reduce the fire hazard.
Excellent examples of the early Anglo-American house are the
Gaines residence, near Pendleton s Ferry in Sabine County (1820);
the John Gann or Bonner house, in Angelina County near Lufkin,
(1843) ; and the Tait plantation home near Columbus (1842).
From 1845 to 1860 the primitive early dwellings were being replaced
by more expansive structures using various types of construction, as
more immigrants poured in and brought with them inherited archi
tectural standards which they applied often in modified forms.
The use of local materials to suit natural conditions resulted in the
development of an architectural form that is typically Texan, the ranch
house of the San Antonio vicinity. Many of this type were built by
Mexicans. These houses were rectangular, one room deep, two or
three rooms long, with a pitched roof extending over a porch or porches.
The entire house was raised off the ground, but was never more than
Architecture , Old and New
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ARCHITECTURE 153
one story in height. Stone construction was used almost entirely, often
stuccoed or whitewashed; shingle roofs and long porches across the
front were further characteristics. There were fireplaces of stone, sim
ple mantels, plastered and whitewashed walls and ceilings of wide
boards.
Anglo-American houses of this transitional period were usually
variations of the dog-run type, rectangular, with low ceilings and roofs
pitched less than 45 degrees, gabled at the ends. Occasionally, the cen
ter hall was omitted and the stair was located on the continuous porch
across the front. The walls were usually of stone, drop siding or lime
concrete.
Often a classical influence was evident in minor details, such as
stairs with simple turned balusters terminating in gracefully rounded and
turned newels. Interiors were simple, with wide board flooring, lime
plaster walls, board and batten ceilings and millwork that was often
crude. In the Anson Jones house (1840) at Washington on the
Brazos, a good example of this type of dwelling is found, with the
porch, square columns and pediment above, becoming only an entrance.
Service wings, wherever used, were one story high; sometimes, where
the influence of the Old South was strong, they were entirely detached
from the house. This classic influence prevailed particularly in the
region of the great cotton plantations along the Brazos, the Colorado,
and the Trinity Rivers.
In eastern Texas are many fine examples of classical and Greek
Revival types of houses and churches. The Baptist parsonage at Car
thage is one of the most pleasing examples, a frame one-story building
with two facades carrying a four-columned portico with pediment above.
The one-story frame Presbyterian manse in Jefferson is an adaptation
of the Greek Revival style, in which the classical simplicity has given
way to delicately handled ornamentation. Another fine example of
this type is the John Vance house in San Antonio designed by John
Fries. One of the best known classical types of the later period is the
Governor s Mansion in Austin.
In the John Smith or Sledge house at Chapel Hill the Louisiana in
fluence is pronounced. Although cast iron balcony rails and other
ornamental features were often imported from New Orleans, the French
influence of Louisana is seen infrequently in east Texas.
Bringing traditional forms of architecture with them in the 1840*5
the Germans built in stone and mortar, almost invariably creating one-
story rectangular houses, two rooms long with a narrow kitchen under
a lean-to roof across the rear, and a porch (sometimes against the side
walk) across the front. Often stairs led to the loft from the outside,
but these were added later. Community life was expressed in the erec
tion of such buildings as the quaint Vereins-Kirche in Fredericksburg.
154 TEXAS
The Germans introduced half timber and half masonry construction, or
Fachwerk, but this was abandoned when they learned that the stone they
were using would support itself. The woodcarver s art was more
evident among these people than elsewhere; fine transoms, doors,
and interior trim are abundant. Urban houses were of massive baronial
type. The best examples of German houses are found in Gillespie
County, in or near Fredericksburg, and in New Braunfels.
The Alsatian type of building found in Castroville, and the native
peasant forms transplanted by the Poles near Panna Maria, are dis
tinctive foreign contributions to the architecture of the State.
Adaptations of the Gothic style characterized churches of this pe
riod, the best urban example being. St. Mark s Episcopal Church in San
Antonio (1859). The old St. Mary s Roman Catholic Church in
Fredericksburg (1861) is an unusual example.
Forts built across the moving line of the frontier consisted of a
disconnected group of buildings on four sides of a parade ground. Most
of the buildings were of stone. Fort Leaton (1850) and Fort Cibolo
(c. 1870), examples of the single unit type, were built of adobe.
Along the Mexican border there was a gradual transition from the
early adobe and jacal huts to houses built in the manner of the Mexican
haciendas ranch houses on a grand scale. On the ranches of south
west Texas in the iSyo s large establishments came into being, such as
those at San Ygnacio and San Bortolo near Laredo. Most of these
houses were of stone, one room deep, opening into a patio enclosed by
walls that often had loopholes. Flat roofs were drained by projecting
waterspouts. Interior walls were plastered, and chipichil (sand, gravel
and lime), tile or dirt floors were used. Often, rooms were added, in
an ell.
Although not built by primitive people, but by the first settlers of
the Panhandle in the 1870*5, the dugout house was of primitive con
struction. The lack of wood on the plains caused the settlers to seek
shelter in the earth. One habitation of this type is thus described:
His dugout was made in the conventional way. A hole was excavated
about four feet deep. The walls were built up about three feet with sod.
A ridgepole was placed across the center and smaller poles were laid
across these. On the poles was placed brush, a layer of sod and then a
layer of earth.
The architecture of the ante bellum period in Texas was superseded
in the late i86o s and in the iSyo s especially in Galveston, where
striking examples still stand, by types characterized by the ostentation
and ornamental frills of the Victorian era. In the i88o s and 1890*5
this vogue in building culminated in the so-called jig-saw style.
Public buildings, like residences, in the period from 1870 to 1900,
were generally devoid of architectural merit. The State Capitol at
ARCHITECTURE 155
Austin (E. E. Myers of Detroit, architect), a neo-classic red granite
structure built in the eighties and using the National Capitol building
as its prototype, is the outstanding example.
Contemporary architecture, in general, has neither the sincerity nor
the appropriateness of that of earlier days. The State developed
rapidly from its frontier condition and, as in other sections of the coun
try, its architecture progressed from the simple functional forms of the
early days to a period of lavishness in which buildings were largely de
signed in styles based upon European traditions. The pseudo-French
chateau appeared, out of place in setting and climate, and the Cape Cod
cottage and the pink stucco California "Spanish" bungalow became un
easy companions.
However, a growing appreciation of indigenous architecture, awak
ened particularly by the celebration of the State s centennial in 1936,
has resulted in a revival of pioneer types of houses. The old homes
that have stood so long are being viewed today as charming, and as the
type best suited to Texas. Many are being restored or copied, though,
as yet, not very successfully.
The tendency in commercial and public buildings in the cities has
been to build in the modified Spanish or Moorish manner, although
the present trend seems to be toward modern functional types. Never
theless, among the 12 buildings receiving the highest vote of approval
from Texas architects through a poll conducted by the Southwestern
Architect, the municipal auditorium in San Antonio designed by Ayres,
Willis, and Jackson, won first place. It is notable for its appropriate
ness, being of a Mediterranean style that lends itself to the local scene.
The skyscraper era, 1900 to 1930, latterly produced such outstand
ing structures as the Petroleum Building in Houston, of which
Alfred Bossom of New York was the architect, the Milam Building in
San Antonio, George Willis, architect, and the Santa Fe Building in
Dallas, F. Corderoy Dale and L. R. Whitson, architects, in which ver-
ticality and simplicity were the chief characteristics, also the lacy Gothic
Medical Arts Building in San Antonio, designed by Ralph Cameron.
Public buildings such as the classic Scottish Rite Temple, Herbert M.
Greene and Ralph Cameron, architects, in San Antonio, the mission
baroque station of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway in San Antonio,
Henry Allen Jacobs of New York, architect, and the modified Spanish
buildings of the University in Austin for which Robert Leon White was
supervising architect, are outstanding miscellaneous types.
The modern trend in Texas is best exemplified by the Texas Cen
tennial buildings in Dallas, where plain surfaces, vertical and horizontal
motives and much glass were used effectively. This trend is being
observed primarily in commercial structures, while other types are still
adhering to traditional motives.
PART II
In Fifteen Texas Cities
Many tourists, following a guidebook route, prefer that the flow of
tour description should not be interrupted by long stories of the cities
through which they pass, perhaps without stopping. For their and other
readers convenience, all community descriptions which run to more
than approximately two thousand words have been grouped alphabeti
cally in this section, with cross reference at the points where they are
reached on tours. The necessary length of such descriptions is in no
case determined by the community s population or commercial impor
tance, but solely by the criterion of tourist interest, which must be the
standard in such a work as this.
The growth of some Texas cities has been so great during the years
since the 1930 U. S. Census that the population figures of that tabula
tion fail completely to present a picture of their size at the time of this
book s publication. As to the cities embraced in this section, therefore,
estimates of the 1940 population have been secured from competent
statistical authorities, such as city water boards, public service com
panies, and directory publishers, and the most conservative figure in each
case is given, following the 1930 official figure.
Amarillo
Railroad Stations: S. 4th Ave. between Grant and Arthur Sts., for Panhandle
& Santa Fe R.R. ; ist Ave. between Polk and Taylor Sts. for Chicago, Rock
Island & Gulf Ry. ; ist Ave. and Pierce St. for Fort Worth & Denver City Ry.
(Burlington Lines).
Bus Station: S. yth Ave. and Taylor Sts., for Bowen Motor Coaches, Pan
handle Trailways, Southwestern Greyhound Lines, Lee Way Stages, New
Mexico Transportation Co., Inc., and South Plains Coaches.
Airport: English Field, 7 m. E., S. side US 60, for Transcontinental &
Western Air, Inc., and BranifF Airways, Inc.; taxi 75^, time 20 min.
City Busses: Fare 5^.
Taxis: Fare 2o<f.
Traffic Regulations: Turns may be made in either direction at intersections
except where traffic officers or signs direct otherwise.
Accommodations: 4 large downtown hotels, numerous smaller hotels and tourist
lodges.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, Amarillo Hotel; Panhandle Auto
mobile League (American Automobile Association), Herring Hotel.
Radio Stations: KGNC (1410 kc.) ; KFDA (1500 kc.).
Athletics: Butler Field, 300 Ridgemere Blvd., football, baseball and track
meets.
Golf: Wolflin Park Course, Wolflin Ave. and Lipscomb St., 18 holes, 50^;
River Drive Course, N. Fillmore St., 18 holes, 50^; Hillcrest Course, 6 m. N. of
city limits out Fillmore St., 18 holes, 50^, 25^ after 5 p.m.; Ross Rogers
Municipal Golf Course, Thompson Park, 18 holes, 50^ workdays, 75^ Sat.,
Sun. and holidays.
Riding: Wolflin Stables, 1901 Wolflin Ave.
Swimming: Thompson Park Pool, N. Fillmore St. at city limits, 10^ and 20^ ;
Gem Lake, 3 m. NW. on Tascosa Rd., 10^ and 20^.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium, Buchanan St.
between fth and 6th Sts., and Amarillo Senior High School Auditorium, Polk
St. between i2th and i3th Sts., Little Theater and other local productions, road
shows, lectures, and concerts; 9 motion picture houses.
159
1 60 TEXAS
Annual Events: Mother-in-Law Day, Mar. 5; Panhandle Livestock Associa
tion Meet and Amarillo Fat Stock Show, Tri-State Fairgrounds, usually in
Mar.; Tri-State Music Festival, usually Mar. or Apr.; Tri-State Fair, Sept.
AMARILLO (3,676 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 43,132; est. pop.
1940, 52,500), was sired by buffalo hunters and bone gatherers, nur
tured by cowboys, freighters, gamblers, land speculators, and pioneer
cattlemen. It grew from a collection of hide huts on a bare prairie to
a modern city in 50 years, and is the metropolis of that prairie empire
unofficially designated as the Panhandle.
It is a region of interminable prairies, flat as a billiard table or
gently rolling, usually green, but sometimes parched to the color of
faded khaki. Over the treeless expanse the sky cups down like a blue
bowl. Captain R.-B. Marcy said in 1849, "This country is, and must
remain, uninhabited forever"; the struggle to settle it is an epic of the
Great Plains.
Amarillo is a refutation of Captain Marcy s statement. The high
buildings, streets lined with shade trees, attractive homes, and land
scaped parks recall nothing of bleak beginnings. Railroads transport
cattle, wheat, and manufactured products from Amarillo to the markets
of the South, East, and North. Tank cars and pipe lines handle the
output of adjacent oil and gas development that supplies fuel to
Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The
city s acquisition of gas and oil as cheap fuel led to the expansion of
its industries.
Cottonseed and clay products, foundry items, boots, and saddles are
a few of its industrial products. The United States Helium Plant proc
esses a large percentage of the world s available supply of this gas.
Agricultural products such as wheat, oats, barley, and rye are marketed
over a wide area. Grain elevators handle millions of bushels of wheat
each season. Zinc smelting and refining are important local industries.
War veterans living in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma
and the Texas Panhandle receive treatment at the United States Vet
erans Hospital, on the western outskirts of the city. The institution,
formally opened in May, 1940, accommodates 150 patients.
The Tri-State Music Festival, instituted in 1913 by Emil F. Meyers,
attracts musicians annually from Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico,
and makes music a vital element in Amarillo s cultural life. Another
factor is the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Among local persons
of influence in the city s musical affairs are May Peterson (Mrs. Ernest
O. Thompson), retired after a distinguished career with the Metro
politan Opera Company of New York and the Opera Comique of
Paris, and Frederick Delzell, who was Miss Peterson s accompanist
on several world tours. Mary McCormic, the opera singer, came to
Amarillo in her youth, and the operatic possibilities of her voice were
discovered in the Tri-State Music Festival of 1914.
Amarillo writers, among them Charles A. Siringo, concentrate upon
the material of the plains and the range. Local artists are interested
AMARILLO l6l
in western types and in scenes along Palo Duro Canyon, which gashes
the flat surface of the High Plains south of Amarillo.
Mother-in-Law Day originated in Amarillo. It is an annual event
including parades and prizes for the youngest, the oldest, and the
"most" mother-in-law. The Maverick Club is a boys organization
that has proved so effective in the development and training of boys that
similar clubs are being organized elsewhere. The Dogie Club, financed
entirely by Negroes, is a companion organization for Negro boys.
The State of Texas once thought so little of the Panhandle s future
worth that it exchanged 10 Panhandle counties, 3,050,000 acres, to pay
for building the State capitol (see Austin). There were some, however,
who thought differently, for at the close of the Civil War the first set
tlers were pushing into the Panhandle. The years 1875, 1876, and
1877 saw tne establishment of several ranches, including the Goodnight
Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon, and the Tom Bugbee Ranch in Hutchin-
son County. Towns sprang into being where cattle trails and stage
lines met or crossed. Buffalo hunters slaughtered uncounted thousands
of these animals on the Panhandle plains from 1876 to 1886. Buffalo
hides sold at $3.75 each, and with a good hunting outfit, able to kill
and skin more than a hundred animals a day, money could be made.
Freighters hauling hides to the market came in for their share of the
profits, and so did the trading stations.
Railroads pushed their way across the Panhandle in 1887, and it
was beside a construction camp of the Fort Worth and Denver City
Railway that the first settlement at present Amarillo had its beginning.
It was a collection of buffalo-hide huts that served as a supply depot
and shipping point for the hunters, then sweeping the last of the great
herds from the prairies. It even had a hotel, the walls, partitions, and
roof made of buffalo hides.
The buffaloes vanished, but their passing did not affect the little
community that sprawled beside the railroad tracks and gloried in the
name of "Ragtown." Some thrifty individual early realized the com
mercial value of the bones bleaching on the ranges, and bone gathering
became an industry. Thousands of tons of buffalo bones were shipped
from Ragtown for fertilizer within the next few years.
The first real settlers were cattlemen. The division and sale of the
lands of the great XIT Ranch, formed of the acres received for build
ing the State capitol, brought still more ranches and towns into being.
In 1887 a land developer, Henry B. Sanborn, laid out a town site
southeast of Ragtown, at a point where the railroad tracks curved
around a natural body of water called Amarillo or Wild Horse Lake.
With the organization of Potter County there developed a contest for
the county seat, and Sanborn, the promoter of Amarillo (then known
as Oneida), offered the cowboys of the LX Ranch a town lot each if
they would vote for his town. Since the LX hands constituted the
majority of the legal voting strength, the victory was easy.
The name of the town was changed to Amarillo, and the community
soon included the first site of Ragtown. The selection of the name
l62 TEXAS
Amarillo (yellow) is said by some to have been due to the nearness of
Amarillo Creek, named because of its yellow banks, while others insist
that the name resulted from the yellow flowers that blanketed the
prairies in spring. At any rate the name so pleased Sanborn, who ran
the hotel and several business houses, that he had them all painted a
bright yellow.
For j-ears there was no town organization and the affairs and laws
of the community were administered by county officials and Texas
Rangers, who were stationed in Amarillo to curb cattle rustling. Lines
of cowponies stood tied to the hitching racks of the main street, and
their riders crowded the hotels, saloons, gambling houses, and cafes.
Available food consisted of canned goods, beef, and wild game. A pile
of empty cans marked the rear of every eating place as conspicuously as
the sign in front.
The early roads of the Panhandle were marked by furrows plowed
in the prairie sod, which indicated the lines of communication to other
Panhandle towns, while one extended southwestward across the State
Line to Roswell, New Mexico. Ranchers blazed the roads from their
ranch houses in the same manner, for on the prairies it was easy for a
traveler to become lost. So scarce were landmarks, especially timber,
that the lone giant cottonwood tree standing in a pasture a few miles
north of Amarillo was known to every range rider in the Panhandle,
and its branches yearly sheltered the round-up headquarters of the Fry
ing Pan Ranch.
Sanborn and J. F. Glidden fenced their ranch property near
Amarillo in 1882 with Glidden s invention, barbed wire, which he had
patented in 1874. Before that time, however, barbed wire "drift fences"
were built to prevent the stock from straying south in the winter. One
such fence extended across the Panhandle strip. A section of the old
drift fence of the Frying Pan Ranch is in Amarillo on Western Avenue
at Fourth Street.
The farmers, or nesters, seeking small acreage, further cut up the
grazing land of the cattlemen who, despite their disinclination to re
linquish free grazing grounds, were fencing their property. Agricul
tural development resulted from the productivity of the soil. The first
farmers raised such immense cabbages on subirrigated land that 100
heads weighed 1,600 pounds. Cotton was cultivated after the accidental
discovery that "woolly beans," cottonseeds in which a shipment of eggs
had been packed, would grow, and the plow turned thousands of acres
of range land into fields.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
AMARILLO. Points of Interest
1. Amarillo Lake
2. Early Drift Fence
3. Ellwood Park
164 TEXAS
Blizzards and droughts came to harass farmers and cattlemen, and
to retard the growth and development of Amarillo. The howling
storms of winter caused severe losses. Thousands of cattle, driven
before the storms, piled up at drift fences to die. Drought was the
terror of the farmer and dry years meant crop failures and suffering.
In early days Amarillo depended for its water supply on windmills
and tanks, but to provide for its increased population, deep wells were
drilled. There were 40 in 1927. The city bought a ranch 20 miles
southwest in the shallow water belt, drilled wells and piped the water
into Amarillo. The supply has a daily capacity of ten million gallons.
Meanwhile, the Panhandle oil field proved itself a major discovery.
Oil towns sprang up overnight, but it was Amarillo, a substantial
community, that received the bulk of the increase in business brought
by the development of each new oil or gas well.
Operators, drillers, speculators, flocked into the city. The popula
tion tripled in a few months and feverish building activity resulted in
hotels, office buildings, and hundreds of new dwellings. Cheap fuel
made available by the proximity of gas and oil attracted new industries.
Gradually the city has adopted the oilman, as it did the farmer and
the cattleman, blending them all into that conglomeration of citizenry
that is neither oil, soil, nor cattle, but is Amarillo.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. AMARILLO LAKE (Wild Horse Lake), is in an area bounded
by N. 8th Ave., Hughes St. and the Fort Worth and Denver City
railway tracks. During the years of early settlement this was one of
the most dependable sources of water supply. Indians, buffaloes, and
wild horses used it constantly, and great numbers of the latter were
caught near by. The lake was a deciding factor in the selection of the
site of Oneida, the early town, and in its abandonment as a center. A
protracted "dry spell" having greatly reduced the water area, the first
railroad station and stockyards were built at what seemed to be a suffi
cient distance from the lake, but when rains came and persisted, the
station and the stockyards soon stood in four feet of water, whereupon
they were moved to their present location. It was while the station
stood on its first site that a herd of 500 wild cattle arrived at a time
when the near by lake was frozen over. Frightened by a shrill whistle,
the entire herd rushed out onto its surface, where their combined weight
broke the ice and 300 of them perished.
2. The EARLY DRIFT FENCE, running N. and S. along Western
Ave., at S. 4th Ave., was built in 1882 of some of the first barbed wire
manufactured. The wire is heavier and the barbs longer than is now
customary. The inventor is said to have noticed that range cattle always
turned aside from thorned cactus, and thus conceived the invention of
barbs on wire.
3. ELLWOOD PARK, S. nth Ave. between Washington and Jack
son Sts., extending to S. I3th Ave., covers 25 acres and is landscaped,
AMARILLO 165
with playgrounds, rest rooms, and tennis courts. At the W. end is a
monument to Fray Juan de Padilla (see Tour 15).
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
U. S. Helium Plant, 9 m. (see Tour 14} ; Palo Duro Canyon State Park,
29 m. (see Tour 17b).
Austin
Railroad Stations. E. 3d St. and Congress Ave., for Missouri-Kansas-Texas
and Southern Pacific Lines; W. sd St. and Congress Ave., for Missouri Pacific
Lines.
Bus Stations: Union Bus Depot, 118 E. loth St., for Kerrville Bus Co., Inc.,
Robinson Bros. Bus Lines, Arrow Coach Lines, and Southwestern Greyhound
Lines; 708 Brazos St., for Bowen Motor Coaches and Arrow Coach Lines.
Airport: Robert Mueller Airport, 4 m. E. on State 20, for Braniff Airways,
Inc., ticket office Driskill Hotel; complete facilities for servicing aircraft;
charter service; average taxi fare 50^, time 10 min.
City Busses: Fare 10^, 5 tokens for 30^, with transfer privilege.
Taxis: Minimum fare 20^; outside city limits icK 4 and 15^ a mile, or $1.50
an hour.
Traffic Regulations: Signs under lights state where left turns may not be made.
No U turns at signal lights; right turn on red after complete stop, except
where special signals are installed. With indicated exceptions, parking limit
is i hour; parking meters in downtown area.
Accommodations: 5 large downtown hotels, 2 apartment hotels; ample room
ing houses, tourist lodges and auto camps; no seasonal rates.
Information Service: Central Texas Automobile Association (American Auto
mobile Association), Nalle Bldg. ; Austin Chamber of Commerce, 803 Congress
Ave.; Central Texas Auto Club, Driskill Hotel; Information desk, Texas
Union Bldg., University of Texas.
Radio Stations: KNOW (1500 kc.) ; KTBC (1120 kc.).
Athletics: Memorial Stadium, San Jacinto Blvd. and 23d St., University of
Texas football games, track meets, and other events; 13 supervised play
grounds; 3 athletic fields for football, volley ball, softball, and other events.
Boating: Lake Austin, 10 m. NW. on Bull Creek Rd.
Golf: Municipal Course, N. side of Dam Blvd., 3 m. from center of city, 18
holes, 50^; Willow Springs Golf Course, 2 m. S. near US 81, 9 holes, 25^.
Riding: Zilker Park, Bee Cave Rd. at SW. city limits, 50^ an hour; Westen-
field Riding Club, 2006 Enfield Rd., 50<J an hour.
Swimming: Barton Springs, Zilker Park, 10^ ; Deep Eddy Pool, 2400 block
Dam Blvd., io# ; Shipe Pool, E. 44th St. and Ave. G., free; Lake Austin, free;
Westenfield Pool, 2000 Enfield Rd., xotf ; Stacy Pool, E. Live Oak St. and
Sunset Lane, free; Zaragosa Pool, E. yth and Pedernales Sts., free; Metz Pool,
2300 Canterbury St., free; Rosewood Park, 2600 Rosewood Ave. (for Negroes) ;
Palm Pool, E. ist St. and East Ave., free.
Tennis: Austin Athletic Club, W. i2th St. at Shoal Creek, non-member fee
25^ an hour; 8 playgrounds have free courts.
Libraries: Austin Public Library, 9th St. between San Antonio and Guadalupe
Sts.; University Library, Main Building Campus; State Library in State Capitol.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Hogg Memorial Auditorium, University
of Texas campus, 4 productions a season by the Curtain Club, student organiza
tion ; 2 productions a season by University Light Opera Company; 7 concerts
a season by Austin Symphony Orchestra ; occasional road shows. Little
Theater, 903 W. 3ist St., several productions a season; Summer Outdoor
Theater, University of Texas, nightly programs during summer, lectures,
motion pictures, road shows; 9 motion picture houses for whites, i for Negroes.
1 66
AUSTIN 167
Annual Events: Beach Revue and opening, Barton Springs, early Apr.; Texas
Relays, Memorial Stadium, Apr.; Round-up (homecoming), University of
Texas, 2 days, concluding with Ball and Revue of Beauties in Gregory Gym
nasium, Apr.; Interscholastic League finals, public school competitions in athletic
and literary events, various University buildings, first Friday and Saturday in
May; State-wide horse show sponsored by Bit and Spur Club, University of
Texas, spring; All-City Playground Pageant, late Aug.; Christmas Carol
Program and Pageant, Dec.
Biennial Event: Thanksgiving Day, University of Texas-Texas A. & M. Col
lege football game in even years, followed by a ball in Gregory Gymnasium.
AUSTIN (650 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 53,120; est. pop. 1940,
87,000), the State capital and seat of the University of Texas, is a
planned city, established by the founders of the Republic of Texas as a
national capital, and continued in similar capacity after the transition of
the Republic to a State.
The city spreads over a sequence of low hills and wide terraces, with
higher reaches stretching away to the northwest along the Colorado
River. The river curves around Austin, dividing its southern parts,
where the city is joined by the massive Congress Avenue bridge. Cut
ting through Austin along a deep bed, the river s scarred sides, despite
its usual docility, are ever remindful of the destruction its floodwaters
have wrought.
Although a commercial city of importance and the leading educa
tional center of Texas, Austin s life revolves around the capitol, whose
massive red dome dominates the physical scene. The course of the
city s business runs close to and confluently with the business of the
State, and the speech of the man on the street is flavored strongly with
reference to its affairs. Befittingly, Austin wears a mantle of dignity.
It is a stately city, with broad tree-lined avenues and boulevards and
imposing public edifices set in attractive grounds; a city of institutions,
its lines everywhere sobered and beautified by the design of schools,
churches, and State buildings. It is a tranquil city, with an air of
serenity, decorum, and permanence, that dwarfs the temporary turbu
lences of its political life.
At first glance Austin seems strung along one main thoroughfare,
and although this impression is erroneous, the effect is a concise pano
rama of the city s character. For six miles this thoroughfare is like a
giant show window, with Austin on display. Set deep in commodious
grounds, their spires and turrets reaching through the treetops, are
various eleemosynary institutions. Signs direct the stranger to museums
and historic sites. Along lateral streets are glimpses of fine old homes
and wide, cool lawns under trees. Down the broad length of Congress
Avenue, the principal business street, modern office buildings and hotels
alternate with two- and three-story structures of faded brick and stone
of the architectural style of the iSoo s; old-fashioned cornices project
above street fronts remodeled to a modern smartness. Intersecting, busy
Sixth Street, reflecting somewhat the agricultural influence of the ad
jacent territory, and the Negro and Mexican elements in its eastern
l68 TEXAS
length, is the second largest business thoroughfare. Along the railroad
tracks are warehouses and mills.
Viewed from the ridge overlooking the Colorado from the south,
Congress Avenue seems to split the city asunder, a broad street at whose
farther end bulks the capitol, with the tall tower of the University
library building rising beyond and to the left, against the background
of hills so tinged at evening by a faintly purplish mist that O. Henry
called Austin the "City of a Violet Crown."
At night a system of skylights, in each of its 29 towers 165 feet
above the streets, sheds a bluish radiance over the city, like an eerie
moonlight, contrasting with the brilliant white and neon lighting of
Congress Avenue and the red glow of the statehouse dome.
More than 700 acres in parks and playgrounds contribute to Austin s
beauty, and the hills on the west, networked with drives, are a source of
scenic and recreational attraction. The newer residential additions are
spreading into the seclusion of the thickly wooded hills, with houses of
brick and stone hidden deeply away from winding drives, while south
of the river suburban districts extend far along the highways. Austin s
southern heritage is plainly evident in many of its public buildings and
in the old residential sections.
Established after Texas became a Republic, Austin shows neither
the Spanish influence nor that of the German-settled adjacent com
munities. Its. racial and social background is predominantly Anglo-
American, derived from the slave-owning South, and aside from its
Negro and Mexican inhabitants, the city has no other distinct racial
element. Austin s Negro population, centered in the eastern part of the
city, has its own business, social, and professional life, which, in recent
years, has found social expression in a Negro Citizens Council, the
Negro Community Center, 1186 Angelina Street, and the Business and
Professional Men s and Women s Club. Professional and business men
act through civic groups to promote community welfare, educational
advantages and relief for the poverty-stricken. The Negroes have more
churches in proportion to their numbers than the white residents, and
there are two colleges for Negroes. Numerous grocery stores, markets,
filling stations, beauty parlors, and other commercial establishments are
owned and operated by Negroes. The Mexican element, acquired
largely since 1925, is scattered and more or less transient.
Austin s slum areas are not confined to any one part of the city, but
dot many sections. In older areas of Austin where the most extensive
and worst housing conditions, with their accompanying disease and
delinquency, exist, about 50 tenement structures have been torn away
for the building of three low-cost housing projects. These apartment
units for white, Mexican and Negro families of low incomes were de
signed to house 337 of the estimated more than 2,500 families living in
squalid circumstances. In sections of east Austin, these modern, clean,
fireproof building groups are helping somewhat to improve housing
conditions in this district, where a number of structures have been razed
voluntarily by the owners.
AUSTIN 1 69
Austin has more than 100 establishments producing a variety of
manufactured articles. A large furniture factory, a brick plant, a half-
million-dollar stone-finishing works, and a large chili and tamale canning
factory lead its industries.
Many persons who have achieved fame have lived here. Major
George W. Littlefield, one of Terry s Texas Rangers during the Civil
War, moved to Austin in 1883, where he made generous gifts to the
University. Elizabet Ney, sculptor, made the city her home. O. Henry
(William Sidney Porter) at one time lived in Austin, where he pub
lished The Rolling Stone. Amelia E. Barr lived here in the iSso s and
wrote many novels and poems of the sentimental type then in vogue.
Her Remember the Alamo was read in nearly every Texas home. Far
different was the fame of Ben Thompson, one of the most notoriously
desperate man killers in the Southwest, who became city marshal of
Austin in 1882, and was shot to death in San Antonio in 1884.
Although explorers, from the earliest days of Spanish occupancy,
passed through the Austin region, and Anglo-Americans built forts and
settlements in the vicinity, the town did not come into existence until
after the passing of Spanish rule. The first settlement on the north
bank of the Colorado, where the southern parts of the city proper now
lie, was called Waterloo.
In the fall of 1838 before he became President of the Republic of
Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, then Vice President, camped with a party
of buffalo hunters at Jacob Harrell s cabin near the Colorado River
ford and was impressed by the location. In January, 1839, when the
third commission created to select a permanent capital site prepared to
depart, Lamar is said to have told the five commissioners to inspect the
spot he remembered. Its elevation and freedom from the fevers of the
coast country were in its favor, and while the site was dangerously far
out on the frontier, it was finally chosen, and the name changed from
Waterloo to its present designation, in honor of Stephen F. Austin.
Austin s early days were difficult. In May, 1839, when construction
was begun on the streets and governmental buildings, workmen were
protected from Indians by armed guards. The first capitol, a drafty,
one-story structure called the Hall of Congress, erected that summer
on the site now occupied by the city hail, was surrounded by a stockade
eight feet high, with loopholes. Edwin Waller, later the first mayor,
directed development of the town. The Gazette, Austin s first news
paper, appeared in October. A month later the archives of the Republic
arrived by oxcart, President Lamar having preceded them to take up his
residence on October 17.
In the 1 840*5, it was reported that, because of Indians, "you were
sure to find a congressman in his boarding house after sundown." An
other Austin resident wrote: "The Indians are stalking through the
streets at night with impunity. They are as thick as hops about the
mountains in this vicinity, and occasionally they knock over a poor
fellow and take his hair." The stockade remained around the capitol
as late as 1845.
170 TEXAS
By 1840 Austin was an incorporated town of 856 persons. Many
nationalities and creeds were represented, and it was a lively place
politically. President Lamar lived in a pretentious two-story building,
while his political enemy, Sam Houston, resided in a shanty with a dirt
floor on Congress Avenue, where he received men of affairs and hurled
derision at the President and his followers. Another newspaper, the
Texas Sentinel, came into being in that year.
The town s most pressing problem was transportation. Under the
most favorable conditions freighting wagons, drawn by oxen, required
a month to make the round trip from Houston or Port Lavaca. Mail
arrived once a week by pony express. Most of the routes followed the
early Indian and old Mexican trails. River transportation was at
tempted, small flat-bottomed boats floating downstream with the current
and returning by sail when the wind was favorable. But this was far
from successful. In 1841 a line of accommodation coaches was estab
lished between Austin and Houston, carrying mail and passengers.
By 1841 the Republic of Texas had been recognized by France,
England, Holland, and the United States, and France sent Count
Alphonse de Saligny as Charge d Affaires. The house that he built for
use as the French Legation still stands in East Austin.
The year 1842 was a critical chapter in the history of Austin.
Following the invasion by a Mexican army which occupied San An
tonio, and the rumor that a detachment was heading for the capital,
many families abandoned Austin and the seat of government was hur
riedly removed to Houston. From this situation developed the historic
Archives War.
Feeling that Austin was no longer safe from Mexicans or maraud
ing Indians, President Sam Houston dispatched James B. Shaw, comp
troller, who rode Captain Buck Pettus fine blooded mare, to the nearly
deserted capital for the Republic s supply of stationery. The citizens,
believing that Shaw had come to Austin to remove the archives, and
fearing that their removal would mean the final abandonment of the
city as the capital, sheared the mane and tail of Shaw s mount and sent
him back without the supplies. On December 30, an effort was made
to remove the records secretly, but Mrs. Angelina Eberly, a hotel
proprietor, saw them being loaded on a wagon in the alley back of the
land office and spread the alarm. Citizens followed the wagons to
Brushy Creek, about 18 miles north, and the following day succeeded
in retrieving the records and returning them to Austin.
The Mexican threat subsided, and after a three-year interval during
which the government was conducted at Washington on the Brazos,
Austin resumed its life as the capital. Then, in 1845, came the annexa
tion of Texas to the United States. By July of 1850 tri-weekly mail
stages made the trip from Austin to San Antonio, 90 miles, in one day.
Soon afterward, the dream of navigating the river was revived when
the steamer Colorado Ranger arrived in Austin, but that dream soon
faded.
From 1850 to 1860, the population reached 3,494. The separation
AUSTIN 171
between North and South impended, and in Austin were three distinct
parties, one advocating remaining with the Union, a second demanding
a Southern confederacy, while a third wished Texas to resume its inde
pendence as a Republic. Travis County citizens voted against secession
704 to 450 but the State as a whole voted for the Confederacy. The
war came.
A cartridge and percussion cap factory was installed in the Supreme
Court Building northwest of the capitol. All the machinery was home
made. A large wooden building w T as erected as a foundry where can
nons, guns, sabers, and other weapons were produced. The Austin City
Light Infantry was organized, and B. F. Terry was commissioned by
President Jefferson Davis to raise a regiment of cavalry, which later
gained fame as Terry s Texas Rangers. Part of one company was
composed of Travis County volunteers.
When Lee surrendered there were 15,000 Confederate soldiers in
Texas. They had received no pay for months and some of them began
to seize Confederate and State property. Austin was in a critical
position because they concentrated their demands on the capital. The
city swarmed with desperate veterans and renegades, a party of whom
finally broke into the treasury house and made off with part of the
State s funds.
With the Reconstruction era came troublous times, but Austin
prospered in spite of political strife and bitterness. In 1871 the Houston
and Texas Central Railroad reached the city, directly stimulating its
growth and business. That line was followed by the International-
Great Northern in 1876. The State in 1856 had established a hospital
for the insane and an institution for the blind; and in 1857, one f r tne
deaf and dumb. Schools had been established and increased. The
Austin Library Association opened a library and reading room in 1873
"to elevate the tone of our society." A municipal railway horse car
service traveled over two miles of track through the main part of
town. The city s social and cultural life was enhanced by an opera
house, a theater, and four halls.
In 1883 the University of Texas opened its first term, attracting
students from all parts of the State. After graduation, many students
whose families in most instances had moved to the capital, elected to
remain and begin their careers in either governmental or private posi
tions; the institution proved a boon to the city s economic, as well as
cultural development, even though its first years were hard because of
limited funds and the general unfriendliness of the citizens.
In 1888, completion of the present capitol was celebrated with a
full week of festivities. There followed a slow period of industrial
growth, culminating in the building of a million dollar dam and power
plant on the Colorado River, which were destroyed in 1900 in one of
the disastrous floods that have visited the lower sections of the city. A
new power plant was constructed, and in 1912 the dam was rebuilt.
From the turn of the century, what might be termed Austin s mod
ern life made great strides. The University grew rapidly, and with
172 TEXAS
St. Edward s University, founded in 1878, and other institutions, the
city became the State s educational center.
In 1909 Austin, with a population close to 30,000, received a charter
for a commission form of government. A third railroad, the Missouri-
Kansas-Texas, was added, and with the improvement of highway
facilities and modern transportation methods, its importance as a com
mercial center and trading point increased. Industries began to take
root. In 1926 Austin adopted the city manager form of government.
Work was begun in 1938 on the Tom Miller Dam, final unit of the
Lower Colorado River Authority s $40,000,000 program to harness and
put to work the Colorado River, which twice has destroyed dams em
bodying hope of industrial progress for Austin.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. ST. MARY S ACADEMY (open 8-3 daily), E. 7th St. between
Brazos and San Jacinto Sts., part of St. Mary s Cathedral at Brazos
and E. loth Sts., is a Roman Catholic school for girls. Founded in
1874 by Sisters of the Holy Cross, it is on the site of the residence of
the President of the Republic. The stone building was erected in 1885,
in the architectural style of the Victorian era.
2. ST. DAVID S EPISCOPAL CHURCH (open 10-12, 2-5 daily},
E. 7th and San Jacinto Sts., is the second oldest Protestant church in
Texas. In 1847 tne parish was organized and in 1855 Bishop Freeman
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
AUSTIN. Points of Interest
1. St. Mary s Academy
2. St. David s Episcopal Church
3. O. Henry Museum
4. State Department of Health Laboratories
5. Texas School for the Deaf
6. Former French Legation
7. Samuel Huston College
8. Texas State Cemetery
9. Tillotson College
10. Headquarters, Texas Federation of Women s Clubs
11. Confederate Woman s Home
12. Elizabet Ney Museum
13. Austin State Hospital
14. Texas School for the Blind
15. Negro Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute
1 6. Governor Elisha M. Pease Home
17. St. Edward s University
AUSTIN
LEGEND
U.SHighways
State Highways
Connecting Streets
City Boundary
Railroads
@ Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest -Symbol
Rivers Creeks
Bridges
174 TEXAS
consecrated the structure which forms the old part of the present Gothic
building.
3. The O. HENRY MUSEUM (open 10-12, 2-5, weekdays except
Tues.; 2-5 Sun.), 409 E. 5th St., is housed in a one-story frame cottage
of the "jigsaw" era, since removed from its first location on E. 4th St.
Porter (O. Henry) lived in this house from the early summer of 1893
to the autumn of 1895. Several rooms are furnished as they were dur
ing the author s occupancy, although many of the present furnishings
were not among his possessions.
4. The STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH LABORA
TORIES (open by arrangement, visitors not encouraged), 410 E. 5th
St., includes the Pasteur, Hygienic, and Malarial investigation labora
tories, first established in 1903 in connection with the Austin State
Hospital.
5. The TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF (open 8-5 daily},
noo block S. Congress Ave., has 24 buildings, including two gym
nasiums and two auditoriums that belong largely to the Victorian era.
Added from time to time and designed by different architects, the build
ings conform principally in their use of yellow brick. The school
occupies 63 acres.
6. The FORMER FRENCH LEGATION (private}, near corner
San Marcos and E. 8th Sts., on Robertson Hill in East Austin, was
designed and begun in 1841 by Count Saligny, Charge d Affaires to the
Republic of Texas from France, and was the most pretentious building
in Texas at that time. The house, now the oldest one in Austin, is in
the provincial French cottage style of architecture, with double doors,
and locks and hinges brought from France. The doors are of barrel
design and swing on serpentine hinges.
The Count did not spend much time in the legation. Indians, fre
quent and unfriendly visitors to Austin, affected the poise of the Old
World representative. Further, that ridiculous affair, known in history
as the Pig Episode, not only estranged him, but caused France to
abandon the idea of lending the financially embarrassed Texas Republic
seven million dollars.
The trouble began when one of Innkeeper Richard Bullock s pigs
broke into the Count s stable and ate his corn. Saligny s servant killed
the pig. Bullock thrashed the servant and put the Count out of the
Bullock Inn. Saligny appealed to the Secretary of State for an apology
and, failing to get it, departed for New Orleans. Recalled as French
representative, the Count returned to Austin as Charge d Affaires late
in 1843 or early in 1844.
7. SAMUEL HUSTON COLLEGE (open 8-5 daily}, East Ave.
at E. 1 2th St., named for Samuel Huston of Marengo, Iowa, is the
result of a long struggle on the part of the West Texas (Negro)
Conference of the Methodist Church to establish a co-educational school
for Negro youth. The school opened in 1900 with 80 students. A
campus of 15 acres has rolling lawns landscaped with native trees and
flower plots. Seven main buildings are of brick and frame construction.
AUSTIN 175
The college is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Association.
Annual enrollment is about 300 students. A.B. and B.S. degrees are
offered.
8. The TEXAS STATE CEMETERY, Navasota St. between E.
7th and E. nth Sts., extending to Comal St., is the burial place of
many distinguished Texans. Stephen F. Austin s grave is surmounted
by a bronze statue by Pompeo Coppini. It occupies the highest knoll on
the grounds. The reclining marble figure of General Albert Sidney
Johnston was done by Elizabet Ney. Coppini did the bronze figure of
Johanna Troutman, a Georgian, who made a Lone Star flag of white
silk with an azure star that was brought to Texas by the Georgia
Battalion in December, 1835. The grave of W. A. (Big Foot) Wal
lace, Indian scout and Texas Ranger, is also in the cemetery.
9. TILLOTSON COLLEGE (open during school hours], E. nth
and Chalmers Sts., an accredited senior college for Negro men and
women, was established and is maintained by the American Missionary
Association. The college was named in honor of the Reverend George
J. Tillotson, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, one of its sponsors. The
first charter was received in 1877, and in 1936 the college was admitted
to membership in the American Association of Colleges. Tillotson
College confers A.B. and B.S. degrees and has an annual enrollment of
about 400 students. The buildings consist of 10 structures of non
descript origin, four of brick, grouped on the 24-acre campus to form a
quadrangle.
10. HEADQUARTERS, TEXAS FEDERATION OF
WOMEN S CLUBS (open 8-5 daily}, SW. corner San Gabriel and
W. 24th Sts., was completed in 1935 under the supervision of Paul
Knight, architect.
Of red brick with white limestone trim, the building is a splendid
reproduction of the Georgian-Williamsburg colonial type of architec
ture. Within the building are a library, music room, auditorium with
stage, the Georgian Tea Room, and dormitory rooms.
11. The CONFEDERATE WOMAN S HOME (open 9-11, 3-5
Tues.-Sat., 3-5 Sun. and Mon.), 3710 Cedar St., was opened by the
Daughters of the Confederacy to a small number of dependent women
in 1908. In 1911 the State assumed control and enlarged the activities
of the home. The average monthly enrollment in 1939 was about 80.
The Main Building and the Memorial Hospital, the two principal
units, are of concrete blocks and limestone.
12. The ELIZABET NEY MUSEUM (open 10-12, 3-5 Tues.-Sat.,
3-5 Sun. and Mon.; adm. 10$ Mon., Wed., and Fri., guide}, NW.
corner Ave. H and E. 44th St., is reminiscent of a medieval castle, and
was the workshop and home of the noted sculptor, Elizabet Ney, who
designed it. After her death in 1907, her collection of statuary was
given to the University of Texas on condition that it remain in the
studio.
13- The AUSTIN STATE HOSPITAL (visiting hours g-u, 2-4
Tues.-Sat. except holidays), between 38th and 45th Sts., entrance on
176 TEXAS
Guadalupe St., is on 382 acres of land and has 25 fireproof buildings,
IO semi-fireproof, and numerous frame structures, designed by several
architects, in various styles. Rentals from 100,000 acres of grazing
land in west Texas are used toward support of the institution.
14. The TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND (open during
school hours), W. 45th St., W. of Guadalupe St., has 12 buildings of
modified Tudor Gothic, with reinforced concrete frame, brick walls,
and limestone trim. Atlee B. Ayres was the architect. Ten thousand
Braille volumes and five Braille periodicals are in its library.
15. The NEGRO DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND INSTITUTE
(open 8:30-4 weekdays, closed 2-4 Sun.} , on Bull Creek Rd., was estab
lished by the eighteenth legislature and is the State school for the
afflicted of the race. The brick buildings, many with concrete frames,
are uniform in architecture, following neoclassic lines. The school
opened in 1887.
1 6. The GOVERNOR ELISHA M. PEASE HOME (private], 6
Niles Rd., was purchased by Governor Pease in the 1850*3 from its
builder, James T. Shaw, a native of Ireland. Shaw s intended bride,
who had assisted in planning the home, deserted at the eleventh hour.
Death destroyed a marriage that took place shortly after the first un-
happiness, and Shaw left the house forever. Designed by Abner Cook,
and built in 1853, the Pease home is contemporaneous with the Gov
ernor s Mansion, and like it, is of the Greek Revival period.
17. ST. EDWARD S UNIVERSITY (open 8-5 daily}, 3 m. S. of
the Capitol, US 81, is a Roman Catholic institution for men. Its
grounds embrace 650 acres, containing a large farm. Five college
buildings are in modified Gothic style, designed by N. J. Clayton.
The institution was chartered in 1885 as St. Edward s College by
members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross from the University
of Notre Dame, Indiana. Its library contains more than 39,000 vol
umes in addition to public documents, including the Roman Catholic
archives of Texas and a special collection of papers and manuscripts on
early Texas history. Four murals of the San Antonio missions, painted
by the Reverend John J. Bednar, are on the first floor of the main
building. The university has a regular-term enrollment of 2OO students.
CAPITOL AND GROUNDS
Numbers of points of interest correspond to numbers on the State Capitol Map.
1 8. The GOVERNOR S MANSION (open 2-5 workdays), Colo
rado St. between W. loth and W. nth Sts., has been the home of the
State s Governors since 1855. The building was designed by Abner
Cook in the Greek Revival style, combined with the stately appearance
and classicism of the South. Its tall Ionic columns are backed by a
typically southern "gallery." Interesting articles include the Sam
Houston bed, the Stephen F. Austin desk, and crystal chandeliers; there
is a fine collection of paintings.
AUSTIN 177
19. The WALTON STATE BUILDING, SE. corner Congress
Ave. and E. nth St., once the Travis County Courthouse, was con
structed in 1876. In 1932 the building was remodeled in the Victorian
Gothic style by W. E. Ketchum, architect; the materials are Cordova
cream shell and plain limestone.
20. The nine-story STATE HIGHWAY BUILDING, SW. corner
E. nth and Brazos Sts., completed in 1933 at a cost of $450,000, is of
limestone, in the modern style. It was designed by Adams and Adams.
21. The STATE OFFICE BUILDING, SE. corner E. nth and
Brazos Sts., completed in 1918, houses several State departments, in
cluding the General Land Office. It is a four-story building in modified
classic design, of red brick with limestone trim. Atlee B. Ayres was
the architect.
22. The OLD LAND OFFICE BUILDING, SE. corner of the
Capitol grounds, was erected in 1857. Designed by Conrad G. Stremme,
an exile from Germany, the style of the building is medieval an imita
tion of a castle on the Rhine. It once housed the patents, deeds of title,
and land documents of the Republic of Texas, and later those of the
State. The TEXAS CONFEDERATE MUSEUM (open 9-12 Mon. } 9-12,
i-$, Tues-Sat.), on the first floor, houses a collection of State and
Confederate exhibits including portraits of historical personages. On
the second floor is the MUSEUM OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC
OF TEXAS (open 9-12 Mon., 9-12, 2-5, Tues.-Sat.}.
23. The CONFEDERATE DEAD MONUMENT, center walk,
was erected in 1901. Bronze figures on the granite base represent
President Jefferson Davis and three Confederate soldiers and one sailor.
It was designed by Pompeo Coppini and executed by Frank Teich.
24. The VOLUNTEER FIREMEN MONUMENT, center walk,
created by Frank Teich, is a bronze figure on a granite base, depicting a
fireman holding a frightened child in the crook of his left arm, and a
lantern in his right hand. The monument was erected in 1896 by the
State Firemen s Association of Texas.
25. The TEXAS COWBOY MONUMENT, SW. of the Capitol
on the main lawn, by Constance Whitney Warren, was presented to the
State by the sculptor in 1925. This bronze statue is of a typical Texas
cowboy riding a rearing pony. Exhibited in a Paris salon, it received
honorable mention.
26. The TERRY S TEXAS RANGERS MONUMENT, center
walk, erected in 1907 in commemoration of the Eighth Texas Cavalry,
an independent unit in the Confederate Army, portrays one of Terry s
Texas Rangers astride a spirited horse. The sculptor was Pompeo
Coppini.
27. The ALAMO MONUMENT, center walk, by J. S. Clark, was
erected in 1891. Of Texas granite, it is surmounted by a bronze
statue of a young Texan holding a long-barreled muzzle-loader. On
the four granite supports are inscribed the names of men who died in the
Battle of the Alamo.
J L
STATE CAPITOL
and Surrounding
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
1940
LEGEND
Points of Interest
Scale
O 125 250
H i i i I ~1
Feet
Ii WEST TENTH STREET z EAST TENTH STREET <
s
AUSTIN 179
28. TWIN CANNONS presented to the Republic of Texas in 1836
by Major General T. J. Chambers, and used in the Texas Revolution
and later in the Civil War, stand on each side of the south entrance of
the Capitol.
29. The TEXAS STATE CAPITOL (open 7 a.m.-n p.m. daily},
stands on an elevation near the center of Austin, in a square area of 25
acres, the main front facing the north end of Congress Avenue.
It is the second capitol built on this spot and the fourth building
used for this purpose since the founding of Austin. The first stone
capitol built here, and dedicated in 1855, was destroyed by fire in 1881,
and some of the early records with it. A temporary statehouse was set
up on the west corner of nth Street and Congress Avenue, and used
from 1883 to 1888, while plans were being made for the erection of a
permanent building.
Owners of Granite Mountain, at Marble Falls, offered to donate
stone for the structure, provided that they could be assured of a railroad
from Austin to Burnet the line being necessary to convey the granite
to Austin, 60 miles away. Their offer was accepted. The legislature
had already set aside 3,050,000 acres of its public domain in the Pan
handle, to pay for the construction of the building and for the survey
and sale of those lands. As a result the great XIT Ranch came into
existence, the contractors taking over the Panhandle acreage piecemeal
as their work progressed. The new capitol was completed in 1888.
The building is of classic architecture, with the National Capitol
as its prototype. Its red granite walls approximate the Greek cross,
with projecting center and flanks, and a rotunda and dome at the inter
section of the main corridors. The center section and the wings ex-
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS. Points of Interest
1 8. Governor s Mansion
19. Walton State Building
20. State Highway Building
21. State Office Building
22. Old Land Office Building
23. Confederate Dead Monument
24. Volunteer Firemen Monument
25. Texas Cowboy Monument
26. Terry s Texas Rangers Monument
27. Alamo Monument
28. Twin Cannons
29. Texas State Capitol
30. Capitol Greenhouse
31. Monument to Hood s Texas Brigade
1 80 TEXAS
tending north and south are of four stories, and the east and west wings
have three.
The dome and the triumphal arch over the south entrance are dis
tinctive features. The base of the dome is about 130 feet above the
basement floor. At 156 feet is the base of the colonnade formed around
the rotunda by huge bronze columns enclosing an open-air promenade.
On the top of the dome stands a statue of the Goddess of Liberty.
E. E. Myers of Detroit was the architect.
The SOUTH ENTRANCE HALL contains, on opposite walls, two large
canvasses, the Surrender of Santa Anna and David Crockett, by W. H.
Huddle. Before two white pillars at the entrance to the rotunda are
white marble statues of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, the work
of Elizabet Ney. In a glassed-in niche is the Texas Declaration of
Independence. In the opposite wall, also enclosed in a glass case, is the
Ordinance of Secession.
The ROTUNDA, at the intersection of the main corridors, is a huge
white circular chamber rising to the top of the dome. Heavy rounded
balconies, with white rails and black balusters, circle above the terrazzo
floor. On the walls of the rotunda are portraits of the Governors of the
State and of the Presidents of the Republic of Texas.
The STATE ARCHIVES (open 8-12, 1-5 Mon.-Fri., 8-12 Sat.), NW.
corner of the basement, contain documents of the Texas Republic and
State, among them treaties of the Republic with France, England, Hol
land and the United States, and a large collection of Texiana.
30. The CAPITOL GREENHOUSE (open 8-5 workdays; 9-9:30
a.m. Sun.), opposite the east steps of the Capitol, contains plants grown
for transplanting in the Capitol grounds.
31. The MONUMENT TO HOOD S TEXAS BRIGADE, on
the east lawn, is a granite shaft topped by the bronze figure of a Con
federate soldier. The sculptor was Pompeo Coppini.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Numbers of points of interest correspond to numbers on the Uni
versity of Texas Campus Map. All buildings open during school
hours unless otherwise noted.
The University of Texas occupies a 2OO-acre tree-shaded campus on
a hill behind the State Capitol, centering at University Ave. and 2ist St.
All buildings except a few early structures are designed in various
adaptations of Spanish Renaissance architecture, as being best expressive
of the soil and historic traditions of Texas. They are constructed of
Texas and Indiana limestone, with face brick. Roofs are of red tile
and decorations of terra cotta or tile.
Towering above the dome of the Capitol, the Administration Build
ing and General Library is the center of a group of administration and
research buildings and lecture halls. At the east end of the University
property, Waller Creek has cut a rocky bed, adding to the natural
AUSTIN l8l
beauty of the campus. The University is considered one of the most
beautiful educational institutions in the United States.
An extensive building program was begun in 1930. The first campus
of 40 acres, bounded by W. 2ist, W. 24th and Guadalupe Streets, and
Speedway, was extended to the north, south and east to make room for
dormitories, gymnasiums and athletic fields. Still farther east and
across San Jacinto Boulevard are the Texas Memorial Museum,
Memorial Stadium, the University Junior High School and the new
Tea House of the Home Economics Department.
The few old buildings remaining will be torn down to make room
for modern structures. Plans for future expansion call for concentra
tion of new buildings, other than those of the Engineering School,
around the Library.
Key to Map on the Following Two Pages.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS CAMPUS. Points of Interest
32. Littlefield Memorial Fountain
33. Administration Building and General Library
34. Special or Old Library Building
35. Sutton Hall
36. Architecture Building
37. Texas Union
38. Hogg Memorial Auditorium
39. Biology Building
40. Home Economics Building
41. Physics Building
42. Chemistry Building
43. Engineering Building
44. Gregory Gymnasium
45. Waggener Hall
46. Geology Building
47. Journalism Building
48. Garrison Hall
49. Law Building
50. Memorial Stadium
51. Texas Memorial Museum
52. Women s Gymnasium
53. University Press and Bindery
54- B. Hall
55. University Junior High School
56. Littlefield House
57. Home Economics Tea House
8
LEGEND
Points of Interest-Number
Scale
100 200 300
~l t ^=3
Feet
SECTION OF
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
CAMPUS
1940
AUSTIN
B
10
184 TEXAS
Bordering the campus are many structures related to the University.
Another group of 12 buildings is on the Little Campus in the block
bounded by East i8th, East igth and Red River Streets and East Ave
nue. These old buildings once housed the State School for the Blind
and, during the World War, became the School of Military Aero
nautics, then the largest aviation ground school in the United States.
The Little Campus is now occupied by branches of the Division of
Extension, the Bureau of Economic Geology, the Bureau of Engineer
ing Research, and a research laboratory of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture. The University also owns a 4OO-acre tract along
the Colorado River between the city and the dam, donated by the late
George W. Brackenridge. The tract is used for conducting botanical
experiments.
Campus grounds were set aside when Austin was laid out in 1839.
A bill to establish a university "of the first class" was enacted by the
legislature in 1858, but it was not until 1882 that the plan material
ized. When the University opened on September 15, 1883, it had six
professors in the academic department and two professors of law.
Although the University was endowed with public lands, funds
were rarely available. Legislatures wrangled over budgets and the
relative value of cultural and practical education. Still enrollment
grew, and overflowed the early buildings; wooden shacks were con
structed. By 1924-25, when registration mounted to 5,163, the preval
ence of these flimsy structures gave the campus the appearance of a
military cantonment.
In 1924 oil was discovered on University land in Reagan County
and later in Andrews, Winkler, Crane and other west Texas counties,
producing much wealth for the permanent fund from which the institu
tion derives its income. This increase, with gifts and Public Works
Administration loans, has aided in meeting building needs. Since 1925
the University has spent approximately $16,650,000 for buildings and
improvements in Austin and Galveston, and at Mount Locke near Fort
Davis, where the McDonald Observatory is. Nineteen buildings were
erected in Austin between 1930 and 1940.
The University of Texas has achieved its long-sought membership
in the Association of American Universities, the highest ranking educa
tional organization on this continent, and is one of three universities in
the South to be accorded this honor. It offers Ph.D. degrees in 18
departments and ranks among the eight leading State universities.
Enrollment in 1940 was 10,969 students.
32. The LITTLEFIELD MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN, main en
trance W. 2 ist St. and University Ave., is a large semicircular basin
with two smaller superimposed basins at higher levels. From this rises
a sculptured group, the work of Pompeo Coppini, depicting three horses,
ridden by Tritons, drawing a boat which carries a winged Columbia,
the principal figure. A bronze plaque on the wall behind the figures
commemorates those of the University who gave their lives in the World
War. The fountain is the gift of Major George W. Littlefield.
AUSTIN 185
The approach to the main building is a double walk with statues by
Coppini of Robert E. Lee, John H. Reagan, Albert Sidney Johnston,
James Stephen Hogg, Jefferson Davis, and Woodrow Wilson, gifts of
Major Littlefield.
33. The ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AND GENERAL
LIBRARY (observation tower open Q-I2 and 2-5 workdays), is the
architectural and scholastic center of the University. On the summit
of College Hill, its 3oy-foot tower, which has a four-faced clock and
carillon of 16 bells, dominates the campus. The first unit of the build
ing, designed by Herbert M. Greene, Bruce LaRoche and George Dahl,
with Paul P. Cret of Philadelphia as consultant, was completed in
December, 1933. The front and tower units were designed by Cret
with Robert Leon White, supervising architect of the University, as
associate. The building is of modified Spanish design with classic de
tails predominating.
The Library, or Main Building, is occupied by the general library
and special collections, administrative and faculty offices, and classrooms.
It contains 621,615 volumes. There are eight branches in other
buildings.
One of the show places of the University, the Rare Books Collection
on the fourth floor, Main Building, totals approximately 30,000 vol
umes including literary manuscripts, and first and early editions, chiefly
in English and American literature. The library is of uniform ex
cellence ; among many outstanding collections are those for the study of
Spencer, Milton, Pope, Dryden, Byron and Keats, the Spencer Collec
tion said to be the best this side of the Atlantic. The British drama
volumes comprise about 50 per cent of all editions of English plays
published before 1800. Reputedly the second best in America is the
assemblage of seventeenth and eighteenth century English newspapers
found here.
The Rare Books Collection is founded on the Wrenn Library, an
aggregation of about 6,000 volumes of English literature ranging from
Spencer to the middle nineteenth century and confined principally to
poetry and drama, presented to the University in 1918 by Major Little-
field; the George A. Aitken Library, which includes early English
newspapers; and the Miriam Lutcher Stark Library of about 10,000
manuscripts, first editions and de luxe volumes, housed in a room fur
nished from the Stark home. The Bieber collection of American poetry,
principally of the nineteenth century, containing more than 7,000 items,
is shelved in the general stacks.
Collections for the study of Texas, Southern and Latin-American
history are outstanding among those in the United States. The Texas
Collection (third floor, Main Building), comprising 18,500 volumes
exclusive of 6,500 volumes of Texas newspapers, is the finest assemblage
of material on Texas in existence. Adjacent to the Texas Collection
and sharing the same reading room, is the Latin-American Collection,
remarkable for its extensive coverage of Mexican history and culture.
Founded on the Genaro Garcia library of 25,000 volumes, acquired in
1 86 TEXAS
1921, this collection has since added other Latin-American items.
Supplementary materials include the Guerrero-Riva Palacio and Gomez
Farias papers, and the transcripts, manuscripts, and photostats of the
Nacogdoches archives, all in the Archives Collection of the University ;
and Latin-American newspapers in the Newspaper Collection.
The Southern History Collection, scattered throughout the library
and supported by the George W. Littlefield Fund for Southern His
tory, includes approximately 25, OCX) volumes excluding newspapers.
Occupying the first floor west wing of the Main Building is the
Archives Collection of about 2,000,000 manuscript pages and items.
Among the larger groups are the Spanish Archives of Texas (1730-
I 835), and the Austin papers. The Solms-Braunfels archives are among
the interesting photostats. Many collections of personal papers include
those of Ashbel Smith, Thomas J. Rusk, John S. Ford, Samuel A.
Maverick, O. M. Roberts, Samuel H. Stout, and William Massie.
There are also many old maps.
The Newspaper Collection on the ground floor of the library,
claimed to be the largest in the South, totals approximately 17,000
bound volumes of papers from 35 States and 25 foreign countries.
34- The SPECIAL OR OLD LIBRARY BUILDING, designed by
Cass Gilbert and constructed in 1910, set the theme for future building
in the indigenous style of Spanish Renaissance architecture. Many
consider it the most beautiful on the campus. It was too small to house
the growing library, and with construction of the new Library Building
the older structure was used principally for offices and to house the
Copernican Planetarium, a large revolving model of the solar system.
With the re-establishment in 1938-39 of the School of Fine Arts and
the addition of second year work in 1939-40, the building now houses
the departments of Art, Drama and Music.
35. SUTTON HALL, housing the School of Education offices and
Education Library, is designed in a modified Spanish Renaissance style
and constructed of Texas limestone, face brick, and terra cotta. Cass
Gilbert was the architect.
36. The ARCHITECTURE BUILDING is modified Spanish
Renaissance in style, designed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl, Paul P.
Cret, consulting architect. There is usually a display of paintings in
the exhibit room on the first floor. The Architecture Department
Library, on the second floor, has a ceiling depicting the development of
architecture. Student work hangs on the wall.
37. The TEXAS UNION, of cream limestone and shell, is in the
modified Spanish Renaissance manner, designed by Robert Leon White,
with Paul P. Cret as consulting architect. It is the center of student
extra-curricular activities. On the first floor are the CAFETERIA (open
daily), and the CHUCK WAGON (open 8:30-8 daily), the latter deco
rated with Texas cattle brands.
38. The HOGG MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM is known for
artistry of design, and for the completeness of its modern theater equip
ment. The building is of cream limestone and shell, designed by Robert
AUSTIN 187
Leon White, with Paul P. Cret as consulting architect, and has a seating
capacity of 1,325. The Curtain Club, a student organization, presents
four plays yearly in the auditorium.
39. The BIOLOGY BUILDING is of face brick, limestone, and
terra cotta in modified Spanish Renaissance style, designed by Greene,
LaRoche and Dahl. The HERBARIUM MUSEUM (open by permis
sion}, on the second floor, is for the use of students and staff of the
Botany Department. The DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY MUSEUM (open
by permission), is on the fourth floor.
40. The HOME ECONOMICS BUILDING, one of the show places
of the campus, is of cream shell stone and limestone in modified Spanish
Renaissance style, designed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl, Paul P.
Cret, consulting architect. An iron-grating gate across the front of the
building, joining the east and west wings and enclosing the patio be
tween, and several small iron-grating balconies add to the Spanish motif.
The PLANTATION BEDROOM and the PIONEER ROOM, containing
permanent exhibitions of contemporary furniture and decorations, are
on the first floor. Here also are monthly exhibitions of various phases
of home economics work.
41. The PHYSICS BUILDING, of cream limestone and brick in
modified Spanish Renaissance style, designed by Greene, LaRoche and
Dahl, Paul P. Cret, consulting architect, houses laboratories and lecture
rooms of the Physics Department. Hall cases have exhibits. On the
fourth floor is the DEPARTMENT LIBRARY and a PHOTOGRAPHIC EX
HIBIT. On the roof is the STUDENTS ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
(open 8- 1 1 p.m. Fri., on clear nights).
42. The CHEMISTRY BUILDING, of rusticated limestone and
brick with a tile roof and a band of terra cotta just under the eaves, of
modified Spanish Renaissance style, was designed by Greene, LaRoche
and Dahl, Paul P. Cret, consulting architect.
43- The ENGINEERING BUILDING, NE. corner E. 2 4 th St.
and Speedway, is of brick and limestone, of modified Spanish Renaissance
type, but more masculine, and leaning toward the Romanesque. It was
designed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl, Paul P. Cret, consulting archi
tect, and contains the laboratories and shops of the Departments of
Drawing, and Civil, Mechanical, and Petroleum Engineering.
44- GREGORY GYMNASIUM, Speedway between E. 22d and E.
2 ist Sts., is of face brick, Italian Romanesque of the masculine type
inspired by the Church of St. Ambrogio, Milano, Italy. It was de
signed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl. The main gymnasium floor is
large enough to permit five basketball games to be played simultaneously.
Chairs convert the gymnasium into an auditorium.
45. WAGGENER HALL, of rusticated limestone, brick and terra
cctta, with a decorative cornice and frieze and tile roof, is modified
Spanish Renaissance style, and was designed by Greene, LaRoche and
Dahl, Paul P. Cret, consulting architect. This is the business adminis
tration building and houses classrooms, the public-speaking offices, busi
ness laboratories, and anthropology offices. The ANTHROPOLOGY
1 88 TEXAS
MUSEUM (open 9-5 Mon.-Fri., 9-1 Sat.), is on the fourth floor. The
museum, maintained primarily for research, contains more than 350,000
prehistoric bone, flint and stone specimens and over 5,000 pieces of
Indian pottery, the largest collection of its kind in Texas.
Among the ethnological displays from Africa, Costa Rica, Hawaii,
China, Babylonia and other countries, are two shrunken human heads
from Ecuador, each about the size of a large orange but otherwise
perfect.
46. The GEOLOGY BUILDING is of limestone and brick in modi-
fled Spanish Renaissance style, designed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl,
Paul P. Cret, consulting architect. Its exterior decorations include a
frieze composed of panels embodying authentic geological forms in con
ventionalized design; reproductions of fossils alternate with restorations
of prehistoric life.
47. The JOURNALISM BUILDING, of brick in the conventional
institutional style derived from the classic, was designed by Coughlin
and Ayres. At the northeast end of the basement floor is the DEPART
MENT OF GEOLOGY MUSEUM (open 2-5, Mon.-Wed.-Fri., 10-12.
Tues.), containing rocks, minerals, meteorites, fossils and cases of gems.
48. GARRISON HALL, the Social Science Building, is of limestone
and yellow face brick and terra cotta. Designed by Greene, LaRoche
and Dahl, it follows the style of Sutton Hall and the Old Library.
Noted Texas cattle brands, and names of heroes of the Texas Republic
are used in cornice, window and entrance decorations.
49. The LAW BUILDING, one of the older University buildings,
of yellow face brick, derived from the classic, was designed by Coughlin
and Ayres. The law library, of 51,234 volumes, is on the first and
second floors.
50. MEMORIAL STADIUM occupies 13 acres between San Jacinto
Blvd. and Red River St., bounded on the north and south by E. 23d St.
and E. 2o T /2 St. Designed by Greene, LaRoche and Dahl, the stadium
was completed in 1936. It is of concrete in the shape of a horseshoe,
and has a seating capacity of 48,000.
51. The TEXAS MEMORIAL MUSEUM (open 2-5 daily, except
Mon.), on the heights east of the campus on San Jacinto Blvd., was
designed by John F. Staub, of Houston, Paul P. Cret, consulting archi
tect. The limestone building is rectangular in shape, modern in archi
tectural style. Many of the zoology, geology, botany, anthropology,
and history exhibits in the museum were collected during the Texas
Centennial.
52. The WOMEN S GYMNASIUM, W. side of Speedway between
26th and 24th Sts., is in Spanish Renaissance style in a manner appro
priate to the mild climate. Built around a patio used for outdoor
exercise, the structure houses five gymnasiums; a dance studio; a swim
ming pool with spectators gallery; two large dressing rooms, each with
70 shower stalls, 1,100 lockers and 140 individual dressing rooms; a
library; a lounge; offices for instructors and physicians; and rooms and
AUSTIN 189
kitchenettes for physical education clubs. Greene, LaRoche and Dahl
were the architects.
53. The UNIVERSITY PRESS AND BINDERY, north of Wag-
gener Hall, is housed in the former power plant, a yellow brick building
with stone trim. The University printing, including everything from
letterheads, bulletins, directories and the school publications to elaborate
monographs, is done here. A rotary press rolls out the Daily Texan,
school newspaper and first daily college publication in the South.
54. B. HALL, east of the University Main Building and between the
Geology Building and Garrison Hall, is the oldest and one of the most
historic buildings on the campus. Named for Colonel George W.
Brackenridge, who provided funds for a dormitory to house men students
of limited means, B. Hall opened in January, 1881. The old building
has seen turbulent times as the political storm center of the campus.
Here, "The Eyes of Texas" University song was written in 1906.
A battle occurred here in 1925 between freshmen and upperclassmen,
resulting in the expulsion and fining of a number of students and the
closing of the building as a dormitory.
The Hall, of yellow brick in the rococo combination of several
architectural styles of the nineties, today is forlorn and outdated. It
has a strange assortment of rounded cupolas, pointed turrets and an
elaborate roof design. It houses the University Health Services, faculty
offices, classrooms and the Bureau of Municipal Research.
55. UNIVERSITY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, south of the
Memorial Stadium facing San Jacinto Blvd., was constructed in 1933
as a model junior high school and school laboratory for the State, and
designed to employ the most advanced methods and equipment. As a
joint project of the University of Texas and the Austin Independent
School District, the University provides all permanent equipment and
buildings. The staff of teachers is supplied by the Austin Board of
Education, which co-operated with the University in offering practice
teaching and observation courses for students in the University School of
Education. The building, constructed of face brick in Spanish Renais
sance style, utilizes the rolling, elevated area around it by having
spacious wings and connecting arcades. Modern equipment is used
radios are in each of the 40 rooms, and there are special laboratories, a
complete gymnasium and cafeteria, and a large auditorium.
56. The LITTLEFIELD HOUSE, 24th and Whitis Sts., an ornate
red brick building in Victorian style, and its remodeled carriage house,
are occupied by the practice and classrooms of the Fine Arts School. In
the carriage house is the University s new $20,000 radio studio, RADIO
HALL, designed by University physicists and architects, after a tour of
the leading radio studios of the United States. It affords an originating
point for University programs over State and national networks.
57- The HOME ECONOMICS TEA HOUSE (meals by ap
pointment, workdays}, at the E. intersection of San Jacinto Blvd. and
26th St., completed in May, 1939, is a low, rambling building of stone
and wood in the early Texas style, designed by Robert Leon White.
IQO TEXAS
The house, with its two large dining rooms, smaller private dining rooms
and a patio, has space for serving about 130 persons.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST
CAMP MABRY, main entrance on State St. W. of I. & G. N.
Railway tracks, is State headquarters for the United States Property
and Disbursing Office, the station and arsenal of the nith Quarter
master Regiment, a Motor Car Maintenance Unit and Supply Depot
for the Texas National Guard, and the headquarters of the State De
partment of Safety and its various divisions.
The United States maintains a purchasing department here for the
12,000 National Guard troops in Texas. Camp Mabry is also head
quarters for the 56th Cavalry Brigade.
The Texas Rangers, Highway Patrol, Bureau of Intelligence, Divi
sion of Traffic and Safety, Drivers License Bureau and Bureau of
Identification, have offices here.
Barracks and other buildings on the 435-acre landscaped tract were
erected in 1918 by the Federal government at a cost of approximately
$600,000. Emphasis is on space rather than on architectural style.
Facilities of barracks, mess hall, rifle range, administration building,
garage and officers quarters are sufficient to accommodate two full
regiments at peace-time strength.
Camp Mabry was established as the summer encampment of the
Volunteer Guard of Texas in 1890. During the World War, the
School of Automobile Mechanics and a part of the School of Military
Aeronautics, training units conducted by the University of Texas for
the United States Army, were conducted at Camp Mabry.
MOUNT BONNELL, just northwest of the Austin city limits,
and reached by Scenic Drive or State St., is a 775-foot promontory
rising above the Colorado River. A roadway climbs through cedar and
laurel to the summit, from which surrounding hills and valleys, the
crescent-shaped lake, and the distant city are visible.
Mount Bonnell is a veritable museum for geological research ; stron
tium, a rare mineral used in making flares, was taken from it during
the World War. But it is best known as an observation point, and
for romantic stories. Since early days it has been the scene of picnics
and courtships. Much of its romance is in the chorus of a song com
posed in the 1 870*5:
Oh, Mount Bonnell,
Hold, hold the spell
You wrought that glowing even ;
It seems to me we ne er can be
Again so nigh to Heaven.
LACUNA GLORIA, on State St., 0.5 m. W. of Camp Mabry,
is almost in the shadow of Mount Bonnell, high above the Colorado
River and overlooking distant hills. This site is said to have been
chosen by Stephen F. Austin for his home, and today is the estate of
AUSTIN igi
Clara Driscoll Sevier, widely known for her part in preserving the
Alamo as a Texas shrine. Mrs. Sevier s contributions made possible
the purchase of the property occupied by the chapel of the old Fran
ciscan mission in San Antonio, when it was threatened by commercial
expansion. The Spanish-style house has fenced and landscaped grounds.
ZILKER PARK (adm. free], on the Bee Caves Rd. at the city s
southwestern limits, is widely known for its natural beauty and as a
recreation center. Barton Creek runs through the south part of the
irregular tract of 350 acres, and the curving Colorado River is its
northern boundary. Its elevation gives a view of Austin s skyline to
the east and glimpses of misty purple hills to the west. The tract has
virgin growths of laurel, sycamore, elm and twisted live oak. There
are rocky banks along streams, and springs, lily ponds and rock gardens
where Texas plants and trees bloom.
The park has swimming and wading pools, a dancing pavilion, two
large, well-lighted athletic fields, a skeet field, municipal pistol range,
canoe club, riding stable and bridle paths, polo field and 45 picnic sites
with tables, benches and fireplaces, several large barbecue pits and an
amphitheater that will seat 1,000 persons.
The largest unit in Austin s park system, Zilker Park, was the gift
of A. J. Zilker, on the condition that the city pay to the Austin Public
Schools the sum of $200,000 to be used as an endowment fund for indus
trial education. Zilker Park is the scene of many regular attractions,
including various swimming meets, community singing, and pageants.
A ford, during the early days the only means of crossing the Colo
rado River, was near the mouth of Barton Creek, and before that, the
Indians used the place as a camp ground.
BARTON SPRINGS (swimming, /0^)> first road south from the main
park entrance, is a popular bathing resort. There are grassy slopes
beneath the great pecan trees, and limestone ledges form the upper,
natural part of the pool, which is 900 feet long and 150 feet across
at its greatest width. The springs have a maximum flow of 42 million
gallons and a minimum flow of 17 million gallons a day.
Long before Austin was founded, the lure of gushing spring water
had attracted settlers to Barton Springs. One of three Spanish Fran
ciscan missions that were in this vicinity for a period of about six
months in 1730 is believed to have been on the bluff of the south bank.
William Barton had a homestead here in 1837. The springs early
became a favorite meeting place ; grist mills were turned by the swift-
running water. The rustic concession stand of today is part of an
old mill.
HORNSBY S BEND, 8 m. E. on the Webberville Rd., covers
the Mexican land grant of the first non-Latin settler of present Travis
County Reuben A. Hornsby, a surveyor who- came to Texas in 1830.
The tract spreads over a high bluff in a bend of the Colorado River,
and is owned by Hornsby s descendants. The village, Hornsby Bend,
is largely inhabited by kinsmen of the pioneer.
HORNSBY CEMETERY (open}, contains the graves of two young
192 TEXAS
men sent from the Texas army to protect the family; they were killed
by Indians, as were Daniel Hornsby and William Atkinson, buried here
in 1845. Graves of other members of the family are inside the walled-
in enclosure.
It is said that Reuben Hornsby s grant (a league and labor of
land) in 1832 yielded the first harvest in present-day Travis County,
and that the earliest local Baptist church service was held here. When
Hornsby arrived from Mississippi with his wife, Sarah, their children,
slaves and furniture, his was an isolated settlement on the western
frontier of Anglo-American colonization. Noted for its hospitality,
Hornsby s place attracted many visitors.
The house Hornsby built to replace an early log cabin burned. Its
attic was a fort, with loopholes instead of windows; pioneer families
fled to it for protection from Indian raids, giving it the name of
Hornsby s Fort.
LAKE AUSTIN METROPOLITAN PARK (adm. free}, 10 m.
NW. on Bull Creek Rd., covers 1,008 acres. A five-year improvement
project was begun in 1939.
The tract has nearly three miles of lake front and beach, with tree-
lined, rocky Turkey Creek winding through its center; hills climb to
1,070 feet, affording a magnificent view of Austin over the top of
Mount Bonnell. Bridle paths, unhampered by thoroughfares and traf
fic, camp sites, fishing, boating, a wildlife preserve and an organized
camp that will accommodate units of 150, will be among its attractions.
Most of the tract is to be left untouched, cedar and live oak dotting
the slopes with year-round greenness, and mountain laurel, redbud,
huisache, catclaw, Indian blanket and sumac giving color to the hills
in the spring. Strata of limestone along Turkey Creek s banks and
bed will be used in constructing stone cabins, boat docks, riding stables,
and fireplaces.
Beaumont
Railroad Stations: 895 Laurel Ave. for Southern Pacific Lines; K. C. S. and
Jefferson Sts. for Kansas City Southern Ry. and Missouri Pacific Lines ; 603
Crockett St. for Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Ry.
Bus Stations: Union Bus Terminal, 650 Park St., for Southwestern Greyhound
Lines, Lufkin-Beaumont Bus Line, Coastal Coaches, Inc., Airline Motor Coaches,
Inc., Norton s Bus Line, Beaumont-Port Arthur Bus Line; Bowen Bus Depot,
400 Main St., for Bowen Motor Coaches and Sabine-Neches Stages, Inc.
Airport: Beaumont Airport, 7.3 m. W. on US 90 for Eastern Air Lines, Inc.;
taxi 75^, time 15 min. ; complete facilities for servicing aircraft day and night;
charter service.
City Busses: Fare $$, children 3^, transfer i additional; special rates for
students.
Taxis: Fare 10^ and up according to distance and passengers ; no standard
rates.
Traffic Regulations: No U turns at signal lights; right turn permitted through
red light after full stop; i-hour parking limit in downtown area 7-7 except
Sun. and legal holidays; all-night parking on paved streets prohibited.
Accommodations: 9 hotels; tourist lodges, rooms, boarding houses, and trailer
campgrounds; wide range of rates.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 5th floor Perlstein Bldg., 573
Pearl St.; Sabine-Neches Automobile Association (American Automobile Asso
ciation), Hotel Beaumont, 611-625 Orleans St.
Radio Stations: KFDM (560 kc.) ; KRIC (1420 kc.).
Athletics: South Park Stadium, Virginia St. between Sullivan St. and High
land Ave., and Beaumont Senior High School Stadium, South and Millard
Sts., school and college events.
Baseball: Stuart Stadium, Harriot St. at Ave. A, Texas League.
Golf: Municipal Course, Cartwright Park, College St. at 4th St., 9 holes, 25^;
Pine Grove Golf Course, Collier s Ferry Road, 2 blocks W. of Cole St., 9
holes, 25^.
Tennis: Cartwright Park, 3 courts; Gilbert Park, Calder Ave. at i2th St.,
2 courts; Hebert Park, 7th and Rusk Sts., 3 courts; Alice Keith Park, Highland
Ave. at Lavaca St., 6 courts; Garland Park, Garland and Highland Aves.,
i court; Roberts Avenue Park, Roberts Ave. and Polk Sts., i court; Magnolia
Park, Magnolia and Wiess Aves., 2 courts; Liberia Park (for Negroes), Waco
and Ollie Sts., i court; all free.
Swimming: 4 municipal pools, open June through first week of Sept. ($< to
15^ except at Pipkin Park, Riverside Dr. at Emmett Ave., and at Liberia
Park, free); Magnolia Park Pool, Pipkin Park Pool; Alice Keith Park Pool;
Liberia Park Pool.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium in City Hall, 700
block Pearl St., local productions, concerts, and occasional road shows; Beau
mont Little Theater, northeast corner of the South Texas State Fair Grounds,
at Gulf St. and Wiess Ave., Little Theater productions; 7 motion picture
houses for whites, i for Negroes.
Annual^ Events: Feast of St. Joseph, religious festival in Italian homes, March
19; Wild Flower Show, location varies, spring; Invitation Golf Tournament,
Beaumont Country Club, first week end in June; South Texas State Fair,
193
194 TEXAS
autumn; Joy Night, during fair, masked carnival parade on main street of
Fairgrounds.
BEAUMONT (21 alt., pop. 1930 U.S. Census, 57,732; est. pop. 1940,
60,000), is an industrial city that owes its development to lumber, rice,
oil, and access to the sea. It is in the eastern part of the Coastal Plain,
where tall pine forests line the bayous and cypress trees stand in the
swamps, where low prairies lend themselves to easy flooding for rice
culture, where the geologic formation has stored rich oil resources,
and where a deep sluggish river and coastal canals connect it with Gulf
shipping.
An inland port, with a turning basin at the foot of Main and Pearl
Streets, the city sprawls along the winding course of the Neches River.
Great refineries flaunt their smokestacks. Tank farms crouch upon
the prairies. Factories produce oil well machinery, which is used in
near-by oil fields, and exported by water and rail.
Because the discovery and development of oil dates from 1901,
Beaumont downtown has the appearance of a comparatively new city.
It presents a smartly appointed business district of modern office build
ings, fine hotels, and excellent stores. In the residential areas beautiful
homes, shaded by live oaks and magnolias, parks abloom with roses,
jasmines and hydrangeas, reflect wealth; here the southern colonial
influence is dominant. Wide paved streets, landscaped with palms and
oleanders, suggest nothing of the maze of muddy trails that served
traffic in sawmill days. Only on the fringes of town are districts that
could be called slums.
The combined influence of its water front and labor in the refin
eries has had a marked effect on the racial elements of Beaumont. The
early developers were of an Anglo-Saxon strain which still predomi
nates, although some of the early settlers were descendants of the
Acadians, and came to Beaumont from Louisiana. The influx of Negro
labor for the refineries, shipyards and wharves and for domestic service
has increased this part of the population to approximately one-third of
the total. The city has a considerable Negro section with a motion
picture theater, offices, churches, schools, stores, and many attractive
homes. This section has its own lawyers, ministers, dentists, doctors,
and teachers. Among its residents, however, there are those who prac
tice "charms," whose lives are ruled by superstition, and whose pic
turesque manner of speech has crept into current idiom.
Immigrants from Southern Europe, chiefly Slavic and Italian, add
variety to the scene. The Italians particularly are tenacious of their
folkways. A favorite festival among them is the annual Feast of St.
Joseph during which an altar is heaped with food that is later dis
tributed to the poor.
French and Spanish explorers and trappers who traded with the
Indians were the first white men in the vicinity. About 1825, Noah
and Nancy Tevis emigrated to Texas, probably from Tennessee. They
built their home on the banks of the Neches River, and the little settle
ment that grew up about their cabin was known as Tevis Bluff and
BEAUMONT 1Q5
River Neches Settlement. The proximity of the Gulf salt marshes
and numerous rivers and bayous abounding with raccoon, opossum,
mink, beaver, and muskrat, made for a lively trapping industry; but
aside from being the most important fur center west of Calcasieu Parish,
Louisiana, the settlement s history for a decade or more was that of
any frontier community in the piney woods.
During 1835, Henry Millard, member of a land-purchasing group
known as Thomas B. Huling and Company of Jasper County, pur
chased 50 acres of land from Noah Tevis, and in October a town was
laid out. Of numerous stories regarding its name, one asserts that
Millard named it Beaumont for his brother-in-law, Jefferson Beaumont,
another, that Beaumont (Fr., beautiful hill), was chosen because of a
slight elevation southeast of town.
In 1837, Millard and Pulsifer & Company (the latter including
Thomas B. Huling), owners of 100 acres covering the town site, invited
Joseph Grigsby, owner of 50 acres between the town and the Tevis
estate, and the widowed Nancy Tevis, to enter "into mutual convention
for the enlargement and more perfect formation of the town aforesaid."
This timely move was rewarded when Beaumont, in 1838, replaced
the town of Jefferson as the seat of present Jefferson County.
By 1840, Beaumont was an actuality, busily engaged in the develop
ment of a lumber industry. Shingles were made by sawing logs into
shingle lengths, splitting these cuts into proper thickness and thinning
the edges with a drawing knife. Cotton, sugar cane, and cattle were
produced by southern planters who had settled in the vicinity.
There was a 6o-foot depth in the river at the end of present Main
Street, and nosing through Sabine Pass and up the Neches River, Gulf
schooners and side-wheel river boats carried on a busy traffic in cotton,
cattle, and shingles, thus early laying the foundation of the town s
importance as a port.
Soon after the founding of Beaumont, a number of settlers braved
the enmity of cattlemen who disliked fences, and began to plant rice.
Their primitive process consisted of plowing the lowlands in the early
spring with a walking plow drawn by oxen, sowing the rice broadcast
and harrowing it in with a wooden-tooth harrow, leveeing the field
with a small embankment then waiting hopefully for the necessary
rainfall to irrigate the crop.
The first yields, though meager, were enough to demonstrate the
possibilities of rice culture. Production of "Providence rice," so called
because nature provided the moisture, was increased annually. After
the October harvesting, accomplished with a reaping hook, these first
crops were placed in stacks, and the daily or -weekly supply was husked
by beating it with a wooden pestle in the chiseled hollow of a gum log.
After the Civil War farmers began to grow rice for market, and irriga
tion was introduced into local cultivation.
Settlement and rebuilding after the war created a great demand
for lumber, which was shipped or floated down the river. Four large
sawmills, built in Beaumont in 1876-78, littered the adjacent regions
196 TEXAS
with sawdust and slabs, but when the railroads began hauling out the
mills products, river traffic dwindled, as the river was constantly filling
with silt. Lumbering reached its peak in the i88o s and iSoo s, when
the output of the Beaumont sawmills averaged 200,000 feet daily, with
other wood product plants producing in proportion.
Rice farmers made rapid strides in the development of their irriga
tion systems. Pumping plants were installed, more acreage planted,
and more miles of irrigation ditches dug. Beaumont s first large com
mercial rice mill was opened in 1892. Although lumber was still the
region s leading industry in 1900, rice growing was running it a close
second, with 5,859 acres of rice or 62 per cent of the State s rice area
in the vicinity of Beaumont.
At that same time, out on the prairie south of Beaumont, Anthony
F. Lucas was drilling for oil. On January 10, 1901, the drill was
down about 1,160 feet when the sand formation gave way to a rock
stratum and the crew shut down to change the bit and sink new casing.
Neither Lucas nor the experienced members of his crew were unduly
optimistic over the oil signs, but suddenly, almost without warning,
there was a deafening roar. Tons of pipe were projected through the
rig floor, up and out of the hole and high into the air. Spindletop
was in !
A geyser of oil spouted 200 feet in a wind-frayed, greasy plume
that spread crude oil over the vicinity. No tanks had been built for
storage and the oil ran where it willed as the gusher spouted unchecked.
At last, after wild days, it was brought under control by a firmly-
anchored valve.
Beaumont became a city literally "in bonanza"; as wild as any
gold camp of an earlier America. Ham and eggs were a dollar an
order and the demand was greater than the supply. Blankets were a
luxury, cots almost unobtainable, and weary men flopped in their clothes
wherever sleep overtook them.
Roughs, toughs, petty thieves, soldiers of fortune, lease gamblers,
spurious stock promoters, and all the riffraff, male and female, that
seeks the easy pickings of an oil-mad crowd, swarmed over the town.
The chief of police warned people to walk in the middle of the street
after nightfall and "to tote guns." "An tote em in your hands,"
he added, "not on your hips, so everybody can see you re loaded."
Though the unscrupulous found smooth enough going for a time,
they ultimately faded from the picture. It was such men as James S.
Hogg, former Texas Governor, Jim Swayne, and J. S. Cullinan, who
emerged with great fortunes. They lifted Beaumont out of the boom-
day madness and stabilized the oil industry.
Business-minded as those men were, it is possible that they and their
kind might never have seen the full opportunity offered by the Spindle-
top pool but for an Englishman, James Roche. A soldier of fortune,
shrewd, resourceful, but with a reputation for square dealing, he was
the first to realize that oil must be sold if production were to continue.
Up to the time of his appearance rnen had been selling wells, not oil.
BEAUMONT IQ7
Roche obtained options on oil production at Spindletop, offering
three cents a barrel for it. He had no money, but he had genius as a
promoter. His next move was to negotiate a bo-day option on a 4O-acre
site for a refinery, and no money down. He then sold everything cov
ered by these options to the Hogg-Swayne Syndicate, which soon organ
ized a refining company called the Producers Oil Company. That
was the beginning of one of the State s greatest oil corporations, the
Texas Company.
The operations of the oil titans Hogg, John W. (Bet-a-Million)
Gates, Cullinan, Swayne, Andrew Mellon, J. M. Guffey, and even
tually the elder Rockefeller caused the fly-by-night, catchpenny boomers
to move out, taking their "quick money" with them, and the oil "game"
began to acquire solidity. Refineries were built, tank farms were
established, and the earth was gashed for the first pipe line in southeast
Texas.
By 1903, the boom had sagged from peak production of 17,420,949
barrels in 1902 96 per cent of the State s oil production to about
half that amount. Spindletop became a "pumper" field, but a sound
producer, and oil remained the backbone of Beaumont s development.
The lumber industry throve during the boom days by meeting the
needs of rush building and the frenzied construction of derricks, but
as the boom steadied to normal production, lumbering sank into a
decline. On the other hand, Beaumont s rice industry flourished. In
1907, 60,000 acres in the vicinity were planted to rice.
By 1908, transportation needs of the rapidly developing area had
revived the old dream of opening the Port of Beaumont. A nine-foot
channel, 15 miles long, was completed during the year, its area extend
ing between the Sabine and Neches Rivers and 12 miles from the mouth
of the Neches to the head of the Port Arthur Canal, which had been
transferred to the Government by its owners.
The Beaumont and the Orange navigation districts secured the
passage of a $498,000 bond issue, and work on completion of a channel
25 feet in depth to Beaumont was begun in 1911. Completed in April,
1916, this project gave the city a turning basin, cutting off two bends
in the river, and access to the Gulf by way of the Neches River, the
Sabine-Neches Canal, the Port Arthur Canal and Sabine Pass, includ
ing the jetty channel.
In 1919 the city-manager and commission form of government was
adopted, replacing the aldermanic form in use since 1881.
Throughout the next decade, oil maintained its lead. Lumber fell
off badly, but the rice yield to the acre increased with improved methods.
High prices had led to overproduction, curtailed somewhat when salt
water entering by the way of the ship channel and pumping plants
periodically overflowed certain acreage. Problems of this industry were
now in the hands of the Southern Rice Growers Association, which
sponsored a campaign that made packaged rice the favorite of consumers
of the Nation.
One November evening in 1925 the crowds at the South Texas State
198 TEXAS
Fair were thrilled as men excitedly relayed the message: "Old Spindle-
top s brought in a new gusher." Experienced oil men, drilling to a
greater depth than the old production level, had struck a new pool.
Again Beaumont boomed, but not with the rowdy, unorganized,
rough-and-ready wildness of its previous demonstration. There was
plenty of excitement and new fortunes were made, but the steadying
influence of organization and experience made itself felt. The new
field proved even more productive than the former. It roared to a
new peak and maintained an amazingly high level of production.
By 1935 the new Spindletop pool reached the astounding yield of
more than 75,000,000 barrels, with a good promise of substantial pro
duction for years to come. Big business controlled the field s operation
and the pay-off was on a grand scale. As an outstanding example,
Stanolind Oil Company bought the Yount-Lee Company, the discov
erers of the new field, in August, 1935, for $41,600,000 cash, the third
largest cash transaction in American business history. Today the Spin
dletop field, with its tank farm and closely-spaced derricks, is a dominat
ing factor in Beaumont.
Meanwhile a 3O-foot ship canal was finished in 1927, and in that
year a new project was authorized for a 32-foot channel; this was
completed in 1930. The present canal is 200 feet wide and 21 miles
long to the point where it joins the Sabine-Neches Canal. The port
has a turning basin 1,500 feet long and 500 feet wide, with berthing
space of 2,900 feet and 449,190 square feet of storage space in covered
sheds, also 137,000 square feet of open docks and wharves. Modern
loading equipment has been installed and, in 1939, 16 freight lines used
the port s facilities.
The rice industry, with its 200,000 acres of potential rice lands in
the city s vicinity, and approximately 40,000 acres planted to this crop,
furnishes production for three of the State s 14 rice mills.
Although oil is supreme in Beaumont, lumber is still vital, and the
pulp and paper industry is being attracted because of the vast supply
of raw material. Contributing further to the modern industrial pic
ture of Beaumont are iron and brass works engaged in the manufacture
of supplies for oil fields and refineries, and shipyards, turning out tugs,
tankers, and various types of oil carrier barges. Within the boundaries
of Jefferson County are approximately 80,000 head of cattle. A large
creosoting plant is among the city s major industries, and cotton and
nursery stock are important exports.
POINTS OF INTEREST
I. PIPKIN PARK (open, free), Riverside Dr. and Emmett Ave.,
is a 4.66-acre wooded tract occupying a part of the Noah Tevis league.
It contains playground equipment and a wading pool for children.
From Riverside Drive, it offers an excellent view of the Turning Basin,
which borders its northern boundary.
BEAUMONT 1 99
TEMPLE TO THE BRAVE (open -5 holidays only, free), SE. corner
of Pipkin Park, is a red stone building dedicated as a memorial honor
ing Texas heroes of all wars. The one-story, one-room structure is
Gothic in feeling. Three small stained glass windows on each side
wall depict Texas under six flags, a circular window at the back above
the little chapel recess shows the flags of the allied nations of the World
War and the Great Seal of the United States, while the large Gothic
window above the door depicts three divisions of national defense, the
Army, the Navy, and the Air Corps. The front part of the room is
devoted to a museum, while at the back within the little chapel is the
altar, dedicated to world peace.
The CLIFTON WALKING BEAM, on a narrow strip of the park
across Riverside Dr., is a relic of the U. S. S. Clifton and a memento
of the capture of that vessel by Dick Dowling s detachment at Sabine
Pass, September 8, 1863 (see Tour oc).
2. The O BRIEN OAK, in the center of Riverside Dr. esplanade,
at the SE. end of Orleans St., is a symmetrical and majestic live oak
tree, rising to a height of 75 feet with a branch spread of 50 feet.
Tradition has it that Captain Cave Johnson brought the sapling from
Village Creek and planted it in the yard of his home in 1849. Captain
George W. O Brien purchased the Johnson homestead about 1880 and
with it the great oak. When the City of Beaumont acquired the land
from the family in order to open Riverside Drive, the sale was consum
mated only on stipulation that the O Brien Oak was never to be de
stroyed. On the esplanade are also a large Lebanon cedar, and a
sycamore, formerly in the O Brien front yard.
3. The JEFFERSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE (open day
and night), between Pearl and Main, Milam and Franklin Sts., is of
modern architecture, designed by Fred C. Stone and A. Babin. A
14-story central tower is flanked by two wings of two stories each.
The outer construction is of light buff brick and cream-colored Cordova
limestone; imported marble was used for the floor and wainscoting.
Interior decorations include a bas-relief map in the main corridor, illus
trating county activities and industries, and courtroom panels represent
ing tables of Mosaic law and Roman fasces. The structure, dedicated
on January 17, 1932, represents an expenditure of one million dollars.
In it are housed all the county offices, courts, and the county jail.
The JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY (open 8-5 workdays except Sat.,
8-12, free), is in Room 6-4 in the basement of the courthouse. It
contains 19,719 volumes. A book wagon, called the Jefferson County
Book Directory, is a feature of the library service. Through it, 1,400
volumes are made available once each week to the school children and
adults of 12 rural communities throughout the county.
The COUNTY LAW LIBRARY (open 8-8 workdays, free), containing
6,500 volumes, is in Room 401.
4. The NANCY TEVIS MARKET (open 6-6 workdays), Main
St. between Gilbert and College Sts., was named in honor of Nancy
Tevis, wife of one of the city s founders. Here farmers display their
BEAUMONT
I 940
LEGEND
69 U.SfHighwdys
State Highways _
Connecting Streets
Railroads
l \\JI II W V-4 wO
Points of Interest- Number
B Points of Interest- Symbol B
*_,*Marsh ^=c Bridges
Other Property
\*. xUnioirBus Sfatioi
BEAUMONT 2OI
produce. The three-story white stucco building is of modified Spanish
architecture, designed by Douglas E. Steinman. It has corner but
tresses, arched windows, and an outside stairway.
5. The TYRRELL PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9 workdays;
2-6 Sun.), N. corner Pearl and Forsythe Sts., opened July 5, 1926,
is a beautiful adaptation of an old Romanesque type stone church trans
formed to library purposes. It has a high vaulted roof, stained-glass
windows and gray ashlar stone walls. A. N. Dawson was the archi
tect. Captain W. C. Tyrrell purchased this building, which then
housed the First Baptist Church, for $70,000 on April 22, 1923, and
donated it to the city for use as a library. Following exactly the terms
of his will, the interior was altered very little. The art room usually
has on display one or more collections loaned by individuals or institu
tions, and has an art library and 8,000 mounted pictures. A Texiana
collection has 946 volumes.
6. The NEW CROSBY HOTEL, N. corner of Orleans and
Crockett Sts., has been closely identified with the oil industry from
boom days to stabilization. The nucleus of the present building was
erected in 1903 on the site of the first structure built in 1880, and has
since been remodeled. It is a five-story building of Texas limestone,
faced with polished Vermont Metawell marble. Designed by Fred C.
Stone and L. W. Pitts, it is in the modern style. For many years the
Crosby House, as it was known, was the "pit," the "curb," and "ex
change" of the oil industry, and millions of dollars changed hands in its
lobby and rooms. Its founder, Colonel John B. Goodhue, vice presi
dent of the East Texas Railroad, named the hotel for Colonel J. F.
Crosby, president of the road.
7. The PENNSYLVANIA SHIPYARDS (private), entrance on
a road leading from the 800 block of Pine St. across Brake s Bayou,
is rated as one of the major shipyards of the South and serves chiefly
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
BEAUMONT. Points of Interest
1. Pipkin Park
2. O Brien Oak
3. Jefferson County Courthouse
4. Nancy Tevis Market
5. Tyrrell Public Library
6. New Crosby Hotel
7. Pennsylvania Shipyards
8. Magnolia Cemetery
9. South Texas State Fairgrounds
IO. Magnolia Park
2O2 TEXAS
for repair of tankers and refinery transports. Oil barges and tankers
are constructed at this yard, which has facilities for repairing all types
of ships.
8. MAGNOLIA CEMETERY (open sunrise to sunset), 22OO Pine
St., is the burial ground of many of Beaumont s pioneers. Its 40 acres,
bordered on the east by Brake s Bayou, are shaded by pines, magnolias
and cypresses. In the original three-acre plot near the bayou old tomb
stones "sad rocks," the Negroes call them bear the names of mem
bers of the Tevis, Wiess, McFaddin, Fletcher, O Brien, Pipkin, Brous-
sard and other prominent first families. In the newer part of the
cemetery stands the $100,000 mausoleum of Manitou greenstone -which
contains the remains of Frank Yount, rediscoverer of the Spindletop
oil field in 1925.
9. The SOUTH TEXAS STATE FAIRGROUNDS (open day and
night), pedestrian entrance at Gulf St. and Simmons Ave. ; entrance
for vehicles on Gulf St. between Regent St. and Wiess Ave., are head
quarters of the South Texas State Fair. Many other events, including
a four-day Fourth of July celebration, a Boy Scout "round-up" and a
Negro "Juneteenth" barbecue and picnic are held here. The Agricul
tural Building, Main Exhibit Building, Auditorium and other structures
are of modernized Spanish architecture, designed by F. W. Steinman
and Son. The average annual attendance at the Fair is 150,000.
The BEAUMONT LITTLE THEATER (open by arrangement), NE.
corner of the Fairgrounds, at Gulf St. and Wiess Ave., is headquarters
for the local Little Theater movement. Built in 1930, it is a one-story
structure of brick, painted white, with green shutters, and was designed
by Douglas E. Steinman. Two broad flights of steps lead to the por-
ticoed entrance on Regent Street. The theater auditorium seats 250.
10. MAGNOLIA PARK (adm. free), on Wiess Ave. between Gulf
St. and Magnolia Ave., the city s principal recreation ground, contains
swimming pool, zoo, tennis courts, fishpond, playgrounds and picnic
tables; free motion pictures are shown at intervals during the summer.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Griffing Nurseries, 7 m. (see Tour 5c) ; Spindletop Oil Field, 3 m. S. on the
West Port Arthur Rd. ; Tyrrell Park, 5 m. SW. on the Fannett Rd. (State 124).
For further information regarding this city see BEAUMONT, A
GUIDE TO THE CITY AND ITS ENVIRONS, another of the
American Guide Series, published in 1939.
Brownsville
Railroad Stations: Levee St. between nth St. S.E. and i2th St. S.E., for
Missouri Pacific Lines; S.E. Madison St. and 6th St. S. E., for Southern Pacific
Lines; S.E. Harrison St., between nth St. S.E. and i2th St. S.E., for Port
Isabel & Rio Grande Valley Ry.
Bus Station: Missouri Pacific station, for Missouri Pacific Trailways; 1030
Levee St. for Union Bus Lines.
Airport: Brownsville-Pan American Airport, 4 m. E. on State 4, for Pan-
American Airways System, Braniff Airways, Inc., and Eastern Air Lines, Inc.,
taxi 75^, time 15 min.
City Busses: Fare 5^.
Taxis: Fares 15^ to 25^.
International Bridge: to Matamoros, Mexico, foot of I4th St. S.E., 15^ a car,
5^ a passenger, 5^ for pedestrians.
Traffic Regulations: 2-hour parking limit in business district, on side streets
between 8th St. S.E. and i4th St. S.E.
Accommodations: 4 hotels; tourist lodges on outskirts on all highways.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 1304 S.E. Levee St.
Radio Station: KGFI (1500 kc.).
Fishing and Swimming: Port Isabel, on Laguna Madre, 30 m. NE. ; N. on
Paredes Line Rd. to Los Fresnos, R. on State 100; Boca Chica, near mouth of
the Rio Grande, 24 m. E. on State 4.
Golf: Brownsville Golf and Country Club, 3 m. N. on State 4, 18 holes, 50^
(open to visitors).
Motion Picture Houses: 3.
Annual Event: Charro Days, Texas-Mexican celebration featuring border
customs and dress, week end before Lent.
BROWNSVILLE (35 alt., pop. 1930 U.S. Census, 22,021; est. pop.
1940, 24,200), is Texas newest seaport and the largest city in the
Lower Rio Grande Valley, at the southernmost tip of the United States.
It is a winter resort, an average annual temperature of 73 degrees
attracting many visitors. Gulf breezes in summer and warm sunshine
in winter make year-round sports possible. Salt water fishing in the
Gulf of Mexico only 25 miles distant and the attractions of beach
resorts, duck and goose shooting, wild game hunting in outlying brush
country, golf and boating offer a diversity of recreation. Sparkling
resacas old beds of the Rio Grande at the city s doors are bordered
by orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime groves; on the streets grow
retamas, mimosas, locusts, bananas, pepper and citrus trees, and broad-
leafed papayas, all overshadowed by palms, often of great height and
age. Residential areas have many beautiful houses of Spanish or Mexi
can types, set in spacious grounds planted in subtropical shrubs and
flowers. Here purple and scarlet bougainvillaea flaunt brilliant blos-
203
204 TEXAS
soms, and gardens bloom in winter; date palms serve for fences, salt
cedars for hedges.
Winding between muddy banks at the city s southern boundary is
the Rio Grande, which through centuries deposited the silt that today
makes Brownsville the center of a rich delta of citrus orchards, vege
table farms and cotton fields. Irrigation from the river has converted
the surrounding region into an oasis, green at all times of the year, and
has made possible the city s greatest wealth. The Rio Grande has
also given Brownsville a definite Mexican atmosphere. Approximately
50 per cent of the population is Mexican or of Mexican descent ; and
among the residents, Spanish is spoken as commonly as English ; in some
of the smaller stores a customer who does not speak Spanish finds diffi
culty in making a purchase. Many trans-Rio Grande customs prevail.
Against a vivid historical background, the city presents modern
attributes in sharp contrast with the pioneer characteristics of its past.
The little trading center at the junction of two dusty trails has, within
less than a century, risen to the position where it claims one of the
Nation s greatest international airports. A recently completed harbor,
four railroad lines, and nine paved highways connect it with all parts
of the United States and with Mexico.
Brownsville came into existence with the opening of the Mexican
War. In the beginning it was merely an unnamed group of hastily
built shacks sprawled under the protection of Fort Brown. The fort
was established in 1846, and was first named Fort Taylor, in honor
of General Zachary Taylor, commander of the Army of the Rio Grande
in the Mexican War. General Taylor s troops w r ere engaged in con
struction for more than a month, and although a Mexican force occu
pied Matamoros, across the river, there were no hostilities beyond a few
skirmishes between outposts and scouting parties.
Soon after the fort was completed, however, the Mexican army
crossed the Rio Grande several miles downstream, with the evident
intention of cutting the American line of communication between the
fort and its seaport base of supplies at Point Isabel (now Port Isabel).
General Taylor immediately moved toward Point Isabel, leaving only
a small force under the command of Major Jacob Brown to defend the
new fort. General Taylor collected his supplies at Point Isabel and
had equipped a train to return to Fort Taylor when a Texas Ranger
brought word that a Mexican army had attacked the fort in force.
Major Brown asked for reinforcements and General Taylor immedi
ately moved his entire army to his relief.
At about noon the next day, May 8, 1846, Taylor found himself
confronting a superior Mexican force at Palo Alto, nine miles north
east of his objective. Taylor gave battle in the first major engagement
of the war, and drove the Mexicans from the field. Resuming his
advance at daybreak, Taylor was again confronted by a Mexican army
a little more than three miles north of Fort Taylor, and there was
fought the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, where a swiftly executed
BROWNSVILLE 2O5
cavalry charge and an infantry flank movement sent the enemy flying
across the river in disorder.
Arriving at the fort, General Taylor found that the detachment
had been successful in defense, but that Major Brown had been fatally
wounded. On the death of the Major an order from General Taylor
changed the name of the post to Fort Brown, in his honor.
While General Taylor was organizing his forces for the advance
against Monterey (now spelled Monterrey), merchants and settlers
were rapidly opening establishments outside the reservation. After the
war, in 1848, Charles Stillman founded the town of Brownsville, and
that same year he and a few associates bought the small steamboats
which Taylor had used for the transportation of troops and military
supplies, thus initiating the river traffic that played such an important
part in the history of Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley from
1848 to 1872.
In 1849 and 1850 the straggling village received another boost.
Westbound gold seekers landed at Point Isabel in increasing numbers
and converged on Brownsville, where they outfitted for the long jour
ney up the Rio Grande and across the mountains of northern Mexico
to the gold fields in California. Thousands thronged the town, await
ing transportation on the little river steamers that would take them to
the head of navigation. Others, too impatient to await steamer facili
ties, outfitted and streamed up the military road laid out by General
Taylor s engineers. Some, seeing greater possibilities nearer at hand
than in California, remained and became pioneer citizens. It was
Brownsville s first boom, and the town prospered.
From 1850 to 1861 Brownsville served as the distributing center
for a vast area of developing cattle country. Ranches in the region
were large and their thousands of cattle roamed the open range. Cattle
thieves and other outlaws were numerous, and there were many bloody
conflicts between ranchers and the gentry of the brush. Yet trade was
brisk, and boats plied the Rio Grande bearing cargoes of supplies to
the landing stations maintained by the ranches along the river s winding
banks. It was during this period that Charles Stillman laid the foun
dation of what later became, under his son, James, one of the greatest
fortunes and banking houses in America. It was Stillman and his
associates who laid out the town site of Brownsville.
This period also gave rise to an unsavory practice of favoritism
on the part of various Texas politicians, which resulted in some instances
in the loss of property among Mexican landholders north of the Rio
Grande. Rebellion burst forth when Juan Nepomuceno Cortinas ral
lied a Mexican force that swept into Brownsville in a surprise raid,
captured the city and held it in September, 1859. After his departure
Cortinas figured in numerous dramatic episodes, until a combined force
of Texas Rangers and Federal troops drove him back into Mexico (see
Tour 9c}.
During this period Mexico was in constant turmoil, due to political
strife, and Brownsville received, with almost equal frequency, the bullets
206 TEXAS
and the refugees of battles between rival Mexican factions in Mata-
moros. Deserters from the various factions looted both sides of the
river impartially, and so great was the disorder that Lieutenant Colonel
Robert E. Lee was sent to investigate the situation, spending several
months in Brownsville during the inquiry.
Following that particular event, Brownsville spent a comparatively
quiet interval, but within a year the Civil War began and again the
city reverted to what, by that time, seemed its normal state of turmoil.
Fort Brown was evacuated by Federal troops and Captain B. H. Hill,
post commander, removed his force to Brazos Santiago, from which
point it embarked for the north. Before leaving the fort, the force
burned military supplies to keep them from falling into the hands of
the Confederates, who immediately garrisoned the post.
From the outset Brownsville was one of the principal ports of the
Confederacy. For months boats plied the river, taking cotton to ships
lying in the Gulf of Mexico, oft the mouth of the Rio Grande. The
city throve as merchants and army contractors came to take advantage
of its war-born commerce. During the dry season the city was pow
dered white with thick dust that lay ankle deep in the streets; in the
rainy season it swam in a sea of liquid mud through which army wagons
struggled with their heavy loads. The roads northward were crowded
with an almost continuous stream of wagon trains bringing cotton,
wool, and hides, and carrying medical and military supplies to the army
distribution centers at Shreveport and Marshall.
As the Northern offensive tightened, a Federal force of more than
6,000 men was landed at Brazos Santiago, whence it moved to attack
Fort Brown. General H. P. Bee, Confederate commander at the post,
believing himself outnumbered, retired without offering resistance, after
setting fire to the large stores of cotton and military supplies.
Later, reinforced, the Confederates returned to capture Fort Brown,
pushing back the Federal outposts and capturing a subpost detachment
at Las Rucias Ranch, after which it advanced on the fort. In his
turn, the Federal commander retired, establishing a fortified camp at
his seacoast base. Once more in Brownsville the Confederates resumed
their commercial activities, but under a new system.
The outgoing cotton and incoming supplies moved across the river
and were hauled along the south bank, the neutral Mexican town of
Bagdad, at the river s mouth, serving as port of entry and export.
Anchored off Bagdad scores of ships loaded and unloaded, disregarding
the Federal troops in Clarksville, on the American side of the river.
Clashes between Federal and Confederate units were frequent, but no
engagement of major proportions occurred, and Brownsville became the
back door of the Confederacy a door which the Federals never closed
until the end of the war.
The last battle of the Civil War was fought at Palmito Hill, May
12 and 13, 1865, more than a month after General Lee had surrendered
at Appomattox (see Tour 16d).
Immediately another conflict threatened Brownsville, in the Maxi-
BROWNSVILLE 2O7
milian situation in Mexico, where the empire set up by Napoleon III
of France was in conflict with the United States Monroe Doctrine.
General Joseph O. Shelby, with his Missouri cavalry, and many other
Confederates of recognized fighting ability, were known to have crossed
into Mexico, and the United States Government anticipated a possible
coalition between them and Maximilian s European soldiers.
On May 17, 1865, General U. S. Grant ordered General Philip H.
Sheridan to proceed from Washington to Fort Brown. He arrived on
June 23, to command a force of approximately 25,000 men. From
Sheridan s arrival until November of the following year he maintained
an active campaign of threatening demonstrations along that part of
the Rio Grande. In addition, he closed the ports of Louisiana and
Texas to all persons embarking for Mexico. Gradually Maximilian
withdrew his forces from northern Mexico and the crisis ended without
open hostilities.
While in Brownsville, Sheridan constructed a railroad from the
port at Brazos Santiago to the White Ranch landing, and an entirely
new roadbed from Boca Chica to the White Ranch (Palmito Hill).
The remains of the roadbed and of the railroad bridge at Boca Chica
are still visible.
In the years immediately following the war, trade was stimulated
by cattle drives from the area toward northern markets.
The first commercial railroad was built from Brownsville to Point
Isabel in 1870, a narrow-gauge road that served to convey what little
commerce remained to be shipped by sea. Shallow-draft craft still
plied the Rio Grande, and overland traffic moved north and west by
wagon train and stagecoach. One of the last stage lines in Texas
operated between Brownsville and Alice as late as 1904, when the
Gulf Coast Lines Railway reached Brownsville.
In 1877 political strife across the Rio Grande again flared into
open rebellion, and Brownsville became a hotbed of plots and counter
plots. In a house on I3th Street, Porfirio Diaz planned the initial
moves of a campaign that opened with the capture of Matamoros and
swept onward in the successful revolution that made him dictator of
Mexico.
For the next quarter of a century Brownsville maintained a fairly
normal state of existence. Bandits from across the river, outlaws from
the brush country, and organized bands of cattle thieves created flashes
of excitement, and the number of sudden deaths from violent causes
remained about stable. Bandits preyed on river traffic at intervals and
outlaws often made the highways unsafe.
Then the series of Mexican revolutions that started when Francisco
Madero declared a provisional government in 1910, again set the border
country aflame. In 1916 a large part of the National Guard strength
of the Nation was assembled along the International Border, and
Brownsville drew its share of the visiting contingents, most of them
from northern and eastern States. The warm climate and the nearness
of the Gulf delighted the National Guardsmen, who thronged the
2O8 TEXAS
beaches and basked in the sunshine. Returning later to their homes,
those thousands of military visitors talked of the beauties of Browns
ville, awakening national interest in the city and the country surround
ing it. The entry of the United States into the World War in 1917
delayed promoters plans, but after the conclusion of the war develop
ment proceeded rapidly.
Brownsville felt its position was the natural outlet for products
of the Rio Grande Valley, and made several attempts to become a port.
In 1930 a substantial port plan was undertaken and finally adopted.
By midyear of 1936 the Port of Brownsville was opened as the result
of a Public Works Administration project costing $5,500,000, sponsored
by the Brownsville Navigation District, which built jetties, a 1 7-mile
channel from the Gulf, and a spacious turning basin.
Thus again, Brownsville, the shipping port of the Confederacy, is
handling ocean commerce. Its freight traffic includes fruits and vege
tables, canned goods, cotton and oil, with all the Rio Grande Valley
and northern Mexico as a source of shipping supply.
Brownsville s nearness to Mexico gives it frequent occasions for
fiestas. Many of the some 200,000 residents of the Lower Valley,
whose towns are so closely linked with rural districts that the whole
area is largely urban, gather here for the celebration called Charro
Days, held annually in Brownsville on the week end before the begin
ning of Lent. Mexicans from the south side of the river unite with
Texans in this event. Huge entertainments have for their theme the
gay and colorful ways of Old Mexico and the border country, includ
ing such typical features as an international ball, a Court of the Brush
and a costume street dance, the latter advertised as "the world s largest
costume ball." Throughout Charro Days the people wear Mexico-
Texas border costumes, only tourists being excused from an otherwise
compulsory practice. Thus Brownsville helps to keep alive its old
heritage, and to cement the friendship that characterizes relations be
tween the people of both sides of the Rio Grande.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
BROWNSVILLE. Points of Interest
1. Fort Brown
2. Stillman House
3. Church of the Immaculate Conception
4. Snakeville
5. Market House
6. Miller Hotel
7. Chamber of Commerce Park
8. Gateway Bridge
BROWNSVILLE
1940
LEGEND
U.S,Stote Highways
Connecting Streets
Bridges === Levee
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
210 TEXAS
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. FORT BROWN (open 8-10 daily], S. end of SE. Elizabeth St.,
is the southernmost military post in the United States and the oldest
Federal garrison on the Rio Grande. The military reservation is 358.8
acres in area. Since its establishment in 1846 by General Zachary
Taylor, it has continued under three designations Fort Taylor, Fort
Brown, Brownsville Barracks, and again Fort Brown. Within the post
area, one-half, mile south of the headquarters building near the river,
is an old cannon that marks the spot where Major Brown fell mor
tally wounded in defense of the original fortifications, parts of which
are still intact. Fort Brown again came into national prominence on
August 13, 1906, when 10 or 15 Negro soldiers from the 25th Infantry,
stationed at the fort, stormed through the city, angered because they
could not drink at bars for whites. A bartender was killed and a police
officer wounded. Because it was impossible to discover the guilty indi
viduals, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered three entire companies
mustered out of the service, an action which occasioned heated debates
in Congress and in the press ; of the 250 men mustered out, 14 were later
reinstated.
2. The STILLMAN HOME (private}, 1305 SE. Washington St.,
was the early residence of Charles Stillman, founder of the municipality
and originator of river traffic of the region, and the birthplace of James
Stillman, who became a noted New York banker. It is a one-story,
brick-stucco building, painted yellow, with brown shutters, and has four
large pillars in front; it was built in 1849.
3. The CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION,
SE. corner I2th St. SE. and SE. Jefferson St., is termed the aristo
crat of border churches. The cornerstone was laid in* 1856, and the
blessing and opening was in 1859, under the Order of the Oblate
Fathers. It is an example of pure Gothic architecture, built of hand
made bricks, and was designed by Father Peter Keralum, who before
joining the order had been a noted French architect. The massive
chandeliers and chimes were imported frorr> Paris.
4. SNAKEVILLE (open daily, adm. icxf), facing the old Alice Rd.
at its intersection with Palm Blvd., has a collection of reptiles and
wild animals housed in a sprawling little village of national repute.
W. A. King, dealer in wild animals and reptiles, is the owner.
5. MARKET HOUSE (open 6-7 workdays, 6-12 Sun.}, 1 2th St. S.E.
between S.E. Adams and S.E. Washington Sts., and extending to Adams
St., is a long two-story building dating back to 1850, patterned after
the Mexican type of architecture of the hacienda period. The market
displays fruits, meats, and vegetables for sale. The City Hall is on
the second floor.
6. MILLER HOTEL, 1309 S.E. Elizabeth St., built in the 1850*8,
is of classic design. It was the social center of early Brownsville. Such
noted generals as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Zachary Taylor,
and Philip H. Sheridan were guests here.
BROWNSVILLE 211
7. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PARK, SE. Levee St. at i 3 th
St. SE., offers an excellent view of the muddy Rio Grande, with Mata-
moros in the distance across the river. The park contains a number
of relics of historical significance, among them an antiquated wood-
burner, the first engine of the narrow-gauge railroad that ran from
Brownsville to Point Isabel. There is also the anchor of the four-
masted French schooner, Reine des Mers, wrecked and sunk at Brazos
Santiago in 1861. Within the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING
(open 8-6 workdays), in the park, are other relics, many of which were
picked up when the Gulf storm of 1933 uncovered the old Federal
camp site at Brazos Santiago.
8. GATEWAY BRIDGE (toll 15$ a car, 5$ a passenger, 5$ for
pedestrians), foot of I4th St. SE., connects Brownsville with Mata-
moros, Mexico. The bridge is open 24 hours a day, subject to change
without notice. All incoming and outgoing cars are subject to inspec
tion by United States immigration or customs officers; there is a toll
booth in the middle of the span, and all cars must stop at the sign, Alto,
on the Matamoros side of the bridge, for inspection by Mexican
customs officials. No passports are required of American citizens, for
one-day visits. No fruit can be brought across the border.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Battlefield of Resaca de la Palma, 3 m.; Battlefield of Palo Alto, 8.8 m.;
Palm Grove, 9 m.; Battlefield of Palmito Hill, 15 m. (see Tour 16).
Matamoros, Mexico
MATAMOROS (15,000 pop.), in the State of Tamaulipas, the
"Thrice Heroic" city across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, has
been battered and battle-scarred into a semblance of antiquity, although
in reality it is not much older than Brownsville. It is a city of sun
baked adobe and stone, a typical Mexican border town with sleepy
plazas, and a ragged edge of squalid pole and mud huts (jacales) hem
ming it in. The city has been burned twice, and pillaged more than
once.
Life centers around the Plaza de Hidalgo, which is surrounded
by the better homes and the buildings of the civic and federal govern
ments, and by a huddle of curio shops, miniature bazaars, and saloons.
Outward from the plaza are low, one-story structures, mostly of brick,
invariably built close against the narrow sidewalks, shuttered and im
pregnable to the passer-by. Passage is especially difficult for automo
biles in the residential sections, where stray dogs and cattle, horse-drawn
vehicles and water carriers add to the difficulties of driving through the
uneven streets.
H
HARLIN6EN-RIO HONDO f
,
Resaca
de la {/Palma ^
Battlefield
At
LEGEND
US Highways
4 H State Highways
Connecting Roads
+Coast Guard Sta^Lighthouse
Towns o Villages
-Railroads ^Airports
Points of Interest - Symbol
i i "2 ~T~
214 TEXAS
POINTS OF INTEREST
The OLD CITY CEMETERY, Calle Independencia, between
Calles (streets) 12 and 14. Until the government prohibited the prac
tice in 1934, tne bodies were removed and heaped on a common bone
pile when a family failed to pay rent on a grave.
In CASA MATA, Calle B-2 and Camino (road) a los Cemeterios,
there were numerous executions during the various revolutions. Open
ings for rifle barrels are in the second-story walls, and a large dome,
probably used as a lookout post, rises above the flat roof. The building
is now used as a residence.
The CITY MARKET, Calle Abasolo, between Calles 9 and iq,
is a typical Mexican market place, vibrant with colors, and filled with
odors and sounds. Articles ranging from foods to jugs, kettles, and
mats can be purchased here.
KCKCWKK9>5>5BS
Corpus Christi
Railroad Stations: Gavilan and Aubrey Sts. and W. Broadway, for Missouri
Pacific Lines; Gavilan St. at Aubrey St. for Southern Pacific Lines; Kinney
Ave. at S. Staples St. for Texas Mexican Ry.
Bus Station: Schatzel St. and Lower N. Broadway for Bowen Motor Coaches,
Southwestern Greyhound Lines, the Kerrville Bus Co., Inc., Missouri Pacific
Trailways and Union Bus Lines.
Airport: Cliff Maus Field, 3 m. SW. on old Brownsville Rd. for Braniff Air
ways, Inc., and Eastern Air Lines, Inc.; taxi 50^, time 10 min. ; facilities for
servicing aircraft day and night.
City Busses: Fare 5^.
Taxis: Fares 10^ first zone (1 m.), 15^ second zone (1.5 m,) ; time rates
$i an hour.
Traffic Regulations: Turns may be made in either direction at intersections,
except where traffic officers or signs direct otherwise. Parking meters in down
town area, 5^ for i hour 8-6, except Sun. and legal holidays, no fee.
Accommodations: 17 hotels, adequate tourist lodges, rooming and boarding
houses, auto and trailer camps.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 3d floor, City Hall, Mesquite St.,
between Peoples and Schatzel Sts.; Coastal Bend Automobile Club (American
Automobile Association), Plaza Hotel, Leopard St. and N. Broadway.
Radio Station: KRIS (1330 kc.).
Athletics: Clark Field, at Palm Ave. and Shell Rd., football, track meets, and
other athletic events.
Baseball: Spudder Field, Highland and Osage Aves.
Fishing: Fisherman s Walk on breakwater capstones, Water St.; City Pleasure
Pier, foot of Peoples St., free; north and south shore lines, edges of turning
basin, and industrial canal, numerous piers, free; Cole Park, east side of
Ocean Dr., free.
Golf: Hillcrest Golf Club, 2521 Leopard St., 9 holes, 25^ an hour, all day 50^.
Swimming: North Beach, Water St., public and private. Other bathing
beaches on south shore line. Surf bathing on Mustang and Padre Islands,
reached over causeway and ferry, by way of Aransas Pass.
Tennis: Hillcrest Tennis Courts, Kenedy Ave. and Moore St., free; South
Bluff Park, Park Ave. and S. Tancahua St., free.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Civic Center, 700 S. Broadway, Senior
High School auditorium, 515 Palmer St., and Wynne Scale Junior High School
auditorium, 1707 Ayres St., lectures, concerts, and local productions; 7 motion
picture houses; occasional road shows at the downtown theaters.
Annual Events: Corpus Christi Day, religious festival by Roman Catholic
bodies, May or June (second Thursday after Pentecost) ; Buccaneer Days,
featured by Bathing Beauty Revue, first week in June; Galveston-Corpus
Christi Yacht Race, handicap event for sailing yachts, mid-June; South Texas
Wolf Hunt, date varies.
CORPUS CHRISTI (40 alt., pop. 1930 U.S. Census, 27,741 ; est.
pop. 1940, 58,000) overlooks Corpus Christi Bay, sheltered from the
Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island, and is a maritime resort and ship-
215
2 I 6 TEXAS
ping center visited by the trade fleets of the world, and an all-the-year
playground.
The city is divided into three distinct areas the playground, the
maritime-commercial, and the residential. The beach is the playground,
with piers, bathhouses, tourist lodges, hotels, restaurants, lunchstands,
and trailer camps lining a graceful half-moon shore line. Between the
water front and the bluff lies the business district, and still farther back,
overlooking the entire scene, is the residential section, sweeping away
to the south and west.
The shipping district, centering in two turning basins and an indus
trial canal, has 15 docks, with a total wharf frontage of 5,983 feet;
in 1940 it was planned to enlarge these facilities. The new harbor,
with 32 feet of water in the channel and turning basin, transformed a
fisherman s trolling ground into one of the four major ports of Texas.
Fishermen sit on the breakwater or public fishing pier and catch sea
perch, sand trout and redfish, or sail outside the bay for deep-sea
fishing. The quest for tarpon is especially popular with visiting sports
men. During the hunting season huge flocks of ducks and geese winter
in the salt marshes. Farther inland game birds and deer are plentiful.
In its citizenry the Spanish influence is mingled with that of the
Texas range, the traditions of the South with those of the North, form
ing a population composite in mode of thought and habit of living.
The historical background of Corpus Christi is that of a lusty fron
tier seaport which, from the time of earliest exploration, knew high
adventure. Its name was taken from that given the bay by the Spaniard,
Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, who, in 1519, claimed the outer island and
the land beyond for his king.
Other explorers, traveling by land and sea, visited the vicinity of
the present city during the two centuries following. Although Spanish
settlements were attempted in the region of the Bay of Corpus Christi,
isolation from Spanish presidios and the constant menace of cannibal
istic Karankawa and other tribes of Indians, prevented their develop
ment. There were, however, Spanish ranchmen whose great estates
and fortified houses were like those of feudal lords.
Legend has it that Jean Lafitte, notorious Gulf pirate, holed up in
Corpus Christi sometime between 1817 and 1821, and in the wake of
this tale follow stories of buried treasure in the dunes of Mustang
and Padre Islands. No treasure, other than a few old coins, has ever
been found.
In search of a land and a life that would erase the memory of a
broken romance, Colonel Henry L. Kinney, a Pennsylvanian, arrived
to found present Corpus Christi in 1839. A dynamic, aggressive man,
he established Kinney s Trading Post, well fortified with walls of shell-
cement. The landlocked harbor made snug refuge for contraband
cargoes.
During this time the region adjacent to Corpus Christi was a no-
man s land, claimed by Texas and Mexico. Old documents show that
in the Corpus Christi area, Mexican laws were in force and Mexican
CORPUS CHRISTI 21 7
grants operative until the United States won conclusive victory over
the southern republic.
As the Mexican War threatened, General Zachary Taylor came,
bringing United States troops in small boats across the bay, on August
i, 1845. He found a village dominated by Kinney, who was all-
powerful on that shore. It was a great day for Kinney s Trading
Post. Colonel E. A. Hitchcock, Taylor s chief of staff, said in his
memoirs that "the officers and command of General Taylor s army
fraternized with the citizens, social affairs were many, and the town
grew rapidly as the flood of army gold brought about the establishment
of new enterprises." Another member of the expedition described
Kinney s Trading Post as "the most murderous, thieving God-forsaken
hole in the Lone Star ... or out of it." Hitchcock referred to it as
a "small village of smugglers and lawless men with but few women
and no ladies." Kinney s retort was, "Ladies are all right, I reckon,
but I ve never seen one yet that was worth a damn as a cook!"
The troops increased to approximately 5,000, and in March, 1846,
Taylor began his historic march to Mexico, leaving Kinney s Trading
Post depopulated and forlorn.
The resourceful Kinney began a real estate promotion in 1848,
advertising his little sun-baked town of shacks as "the Italy of America."
Colonizers were importing settlers for the unpeopled lands south and
west, and boatloads of immigrants arrived; many of the newcomers
remained in the small port town and started building a better com
munity. A little later a "good will trip" was staged by Kinney and his
associates, who sent a large wagon train to open trade with El Paso
and Chihuahua. This started a spectacular period of wagon commerce
between Corpus Christi and Mexico and with inland points. The
armed wagon trains transported everything from onions to gold and
silver. Shortly before this time the name, Kinney s Post, had been
changed to Corpus Christi; "something more definite for a postmark
on letters" was needed. The gold seekers of 1849 used Corpus Christi
as an assembling point on the Southern Immigrant Route.
In August, 1862, a Federal fleet of two small boats established
a land base on the outlying islands. Surrender of the town was de
manded on August 14 and refusal brought a bombardment on August
1 6, which was repeated on August 18. Tradition relates that part of
the shells that fell during the attack were loaded with whisky. Captain
Kittredge of the Federal forces missed a barrel of Bourbon and it devel
oped that some of his men had emptied the charges from shells and
substituted whisky. There was no way to change the shells before
the bombardment without revealing the theft. A Negro servant in
Corpus Christi accidentally discovered that "whisky bombs" were fall
ing, and thereafter all was merry wherever they fell.
A Mexican raid in 1875 furnished the basis of a feud between
local settlers and Mexicans of the brush country southwest of the town,
a situation lasting many months. Corpus Christi, however, was matur
ing. A railroad was started. Shipping over a shallow canal increased.
CORPUS CHRIST
1940
LEGEND
U.S.,State Highways
Connecting Streets
Railroads
Points of Interest-Numbers
Points of Interest-Symbols
Fishing 1 Boating
To: Airport
Robstown
Laredo
CORPUS CHRISTI 219
Commercial fishing and the export of sea foods were added to growing
enterprises. The resort advantages of Corpus Christi and the coast
around it drew attention. Agriculture gained in importance. On the
level black lands back of the town, cotton won ascendancy. Between
1875 and 1885 Corpus Christi was one of the largest wool markets
in America. The ranchmen, including Captain Richard King, whose
holdings lay in the vicinity, turned to sheep for revenue, one ranch
having 40,000 head. When the free range disappeared, following the
introduction of wire fences, this industry vanished, and was replaced by
herds of Hereford cattle.
For half a century Corpus Christi enjoyed a hardy development.
Not even a destructive hurricane in 1919 deterred increasing growth.
Indeed, it stimulated progress by calling attention to the safety of the
high bluff section and hastened Federal aid for an adequate port. Tall
office structures and hotels were built on the beach and on the bluff.
In 1913, a gas well of tremendous pressure "blew out" at White
Point, six miles across the bay. Catching fire, it lighted the area for
many miles and before choking itself off created a deep pit in the earth.
Explorations continued, and in 1923 the city drilled its first gas well
about four miles west of Corpus Christi, and natural fuel was piped
into the city for general use. In 1930, oil in commercial quantities
i was discovered in the same area, and Texas and Eastern capital became
interested.
There are 143 oil fields within 125 miles of Corpus Christi, with a
i variable daily allowable production of approximately 250,000 barrels
! of oil, much of it concentrated near the docks for coastwise and export
shipment. Twelve refineries in the immediate area use a substantial
, amount of the oil brought to Corpus Christi by pipe lines and tank
j cars. Oil derricks and producing wells are in the city limits.
The Port of Corpus Christi, made possible by a Federal appro
priation and bonds voted by the city and Nueces County in 1922, was
opened September 14, 1926. The channel from the Gulf to the turning
; basin is 21 miles long, with a 2OO-foot bottom width. Freight steamer
service to Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coastal points, and to foreign
; countries, is offered by companies with agencies in the city.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
CORPUS CHRISTI. Points of Interest
1. Site of General Taylor s Camp
2. Artesian Park
3. Meuly House
4. Evans House
5. Ben Grande Corner
6. Southern Alkali Corporation Plant
CORPUS CHRISTI
VICINITY
1940
LEGEND
U.S. Highways
State Highways
Connecting Roads
~7.~ County Boundary
Towns and Villages
Railroads ^-^j^Marsh
S Airports ^=<Bridges
Scale
c ,, a 4 .
?or/x/* CtiristiPoss
r
222 TEXAS
South of the port entrance, for nearly two miles to the foot of
Craig Avenue, the city in 1940 was erecting a 1 5-foot concrete sea wall
in front of the business section. Reinforced with creosoted piling and
interlocking steel, the wall will make possible the reclamation of a
strip of land, at some points extending as far as 1,000 feet into Corpus
Christi Bay. Its purpose is two-fold: Beautification of the bayfront
and protection against storms. In future years broad boulevards, park
ways and municipal buildings will be built on the new land, and pro
tected basins for pleasure craft constructed. The plan for this project
was first suggested by Gutzon Borglum, sculptor, after the hurricane
of 1919. The estimated cost will be between two and three million
dollars.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. The SITE OF GENERAL TAYLOR S CAMP, Mesquite St.,
where the drawbridge crosses the ship channel, was the center of Zach-
ary Taylor s tent city, occupied between 1845 and 1846, and near by
is the site where the first United States flag was raised on Texas soil
south of the Nueces River. The flag was displayed from a point on
North Beach about 200 yards from where the Breakers Hotel stands.
The army s roster of officers was studded with such notable names as
those of Jefferson Davis, U. S. Grant, Franklin T. Pierce, Robert E.
Lee, John Bankhead Magruder, Albert Sidney Johnston, George B.
Thomas, Joseph Hooker, George G. Meade, Don Carlos Buell, and
James Longstreet. In the army were many Texas frontiersmen, among
them "Mustang" Gray and "Old Rip" Ford, frontier characters, and
the noted Texas Ranger, Jack Hays.
2. ARTESIAN PARK, 800 Chaparral St., contains a granite shaft
marking the site of General Taylor s headquarters, and has a city drink
ing fountain. A well in the park, drilled by the General s orders, was
abandoned when mineral water was struck, but restored later when its
sulphur content was found healthful.
3. The MEULY HOUSE (private}, 210 Chaparral St., one of the
city s oldest buildings, is a two-story shell and concrete dwelling trimmed
with ornamental iron grillwork. It required two years (1852-54) for
Conrad Meuly to complete the house, because oyster shells were burned
to obtain lime for the hand-made blocks used in the walls. Other
building materials were brought from New Orleans. The house has
withstood three major storms, in 1875, 1886, and 1919.
4. The EVANS HOUSE (private), 411 N. Broadway, a two-story
shell, concrete, and brick dwelling, was used as a hospital during the
Civil War. It has been preserved intact.
5. BEN GRANDE CORNER, SE. corner Leopard and Waco Sts.,
was the scene of early carnivals. In the two-story wooden building,
now housing small shops, the old mahogany bar is in use. Week-end
fiestas were held in the garden at the rear. Among visitors to these
were the notorious John Wesley Hardin and Ben Thompson. The
fiestas held here were in their heyday in the 1890*5.
CORPUS CHRISTI 223
6. The SOUTHERN ALKALI CORPORATION PLANT (open
by arrangement}, N. end Lawrence Dr., produces caustic soda, soda
ash, salt, and alkalies for glass, steel, and petroleum elements. The
two-story white stucco administration building, backed by concrete,
cylindrical structures, represents an investment of $7,000,000. A chan
nel connects the plant with the turning basin.
POINT OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
PORT ARANSAS, 22 m. (sec Tour ?/;).
Dallas
Railroad Stations: Union Railway Terminal, Houston St. between Jackson
and Young Sts., for Chicago, Rock Island Gulf Ry., Fort Worth & Denver City
Ry., St. Louis, San Francisco & Texas Ry., Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Ry.,
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines, St. Louis Southwestern Ry., Texas & New
Orleans Ry., and Texas & Pacific Ry. ; Highland Park Station, Abbott Ave. at
Knox St., for Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines; Jackson and Browder Sts. for
Texas Electric Ry. (interurban).
Bus Stations: Union Bus Depot, Jackson and Browder Sts., for Dixie Trail-
ways, Bowen Motor Coaches, Dallas-Celina-Sherman Bus Lines, Sunshine Trail-
ways, Texas Motor Coaches, Inc.; Greyhound Bus Terminal, 812 Commerce
St., for Southwestern Greyhound Lines, Texas Motor Coaches, Bowen Motor
Coaches, Dallas-Celina-Sherman Bus Lines; 1001 Commerce St. for All Ameri
can Bus Lines, Inc.
Airports: Love Field, 6 m. NW. of city on US 77, for American Airlines,
Inc., Delta Air Lines, Braniff Airways, Inc.; bus fare 7^, airport taxi 50^ ,
other taxis 90^, time 30 min.
Streetcars and City Busses: Fare 7^, 5 tokens for 30^.
Taxis: Fare 35^ for 2.5 m., 10^ each additional m.
Traffic Regulations: In downtown traffic left turn on green and right on red
lights permitted when so indicated by sign at bottom of signal light. Parking
meters downtown, 5^ fee for varying periods, from 15 min. to i hour, 7-6,
except Sun. and legal holidays, no fee; outside metered district parking limit
indicated on curb.
Accommodations: 14 large hotels, including 7 apartment hotels; more than 25
tourist lodges and numerous auto camps; adequate trailer camps.
Information Service: Dallas Automobile Club (American Automobile Asso
ciation), Adolphus Hotel, 1321 Commerce St., branch office, Baker Hotel, 1400
Commerce St.; Chamber of Commerce, 1101 Commerce St.
Radio Stations: KRLD (1040 kc.) ; WFAA (800 kc.) ; WRR (1280 kc.) ;
KGKO (570 kc.).
Athletics: Cotton Bowl Stadium, Fair Park, Parry and Second Aves., football
and rodeos; Dallas High School Stadium, L. of Maple Ave. between Reagan
St. and Oak Lawn Blvd., high school sports; Ownby Stadium, Airline Rd. and
Mockingbird Lane, college football and track meets.
Baseball: Dallas Baseball Stadium, 1500 E. Jefferson Ave., Texas League.
Boating: White Rock Lake Municipal Boathouse, White Rock Lake, 9.8 m.
NE. on US 67, motorboats, rowboats and canoes; Dallas Boat Club, E. shore
of White Rock Lake, all types of boats.
Golf: Tenison Park, East Pike and E. Grand Ave., 18 holes, 50^ workdays,
others 75^; Stevens Park Golf Course, N. Mont Clair Ave. and Kessler
Parkway, 18 holes, 50^ workdays, others 75^; El Tivoli, 2715 W. Davis (Fort
Worth Pike), 18 holes, 50^ workdays, others 75^; Bob-O-Link Golf Course,
3120 Abrams Rd., 18 holes, 35^ workdays, others 75^; Walnut Hill Country-
Club, Lemmon Ave. and Northwest Highway, 18 holes, 50^ workdays, others
75^; Crescent Golf Course, Lemmon Ave. at Maple Lawn, 18 holes, <$o^ work
days, others 75^; Cedar Lake Golf Course, L. of Scyene Rd. and Buckner Blvd.,
9 holes, 35< for 18 holes.
Swimming: White Rock Municipal Bathing Beach, E. shore of White Rock
Lake, 15^ and 25^; Lake Cliff Municipal Pool, Colorado and Zang Blvds., Oak
224
DALLAS 225
Cliff, 15^ and 25^; Fair Park Municipal Pool, Grand and Second Aves., 15^
and 25^; Hall Street Park Pool (for Negroes), Hall and Cochran Sts., io#
and 20^.
Tennis: 100 city tennis courts in parks, free; make reservations at Fretz
Community Center, Corinth and Cochran Sts.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: i legitimate theater, Fair Park Audi
torium; Dallas Little Theater, 3104 Maple Ave. ; 40 motion picture houses, 3 of
which offer occasional road shows.
Annual Events: Southwestern Style Shows, usually last week of Jan. and
first 2 weeks of Feb., and last week of July and first 2 weeks of Aug.; Czecho-
Slovakian Celebration, July 18-20, Sokol Hall, 3700 Carl St.; State Fair of
Texas, Fair Park, Parry, Second and Pennsylvania Aves. and T. & P. Ry., two
weeks in Oct.
DALLAS (512 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 260,475; est. pop. 1940,
300,000) is the metropolis not only of north Texas, but of a large
part of the Southwest. It is an industrial and commercial city, founded
in the days when Texas was a republic, and possessing a citizenry more
cosmopolitan than that of most other Texas communities. Many of its
old families trace their ancestry back to the highly educated, if some
what visionary men who came from Europe to found the socialistic
colony of La Reunion, and remained to help build Dallas. The pro
genitors of others came from the Old South after the Civil War, bring
ing both culture and agricultural skill, or from the industrial North,
bringing equal culture and manufacturing skill. The result was a
blending of expertness in both the production of raw materials and their
transformation into manufactured articles, which as years passed, have
made Dallas the commercial center of a tremendous area.
Set in the midst of vast cotton fields and a near neighbor to rich
oil fields, Dallas is the foremost inland spot cotton market in the United
States and one of the Southwest s important oil capitals. It leads the
world in the manufacture of cotton gin machinery, due to the inventions
in the i88o s of Robert S. Munger, a Dallas man, who made many im
provements on the earlier inventions of Eli Whitney. In the United
States it ranks first in volume distribution of cottonseed products and
its cotton mills produce approximately ten million yards of fabric an
nually. It ranks second in the United States in the production of wash
dresses and in the manufacture and distribution of women s hats. The
fashion center of the Southwest, Dallas holds important style shows each
spring and autumn.
Divided by the Trinity River, and with a vast prairie over which
to spread, Dallas could have developed in a sprawling manner, instead
of becoming, as it is, the most compact city in Texas. However, where
the three forks which give the river its name converge, they met a hard
rock obstruction which constricted the valley s width from five miles to
one, and on that comparatively narrow foundation Dallas piled itself
up. East of the river the downtown area and East Dallas, North
Dallas, and South Dallas merged into one, carrying approximately two-
thirds of the total population. On the west, Oak Cliff carries the other
third. Highland Park, University Park, and Preston Hollow, three
226 TEXAS
self-governed suburbs, lie in close association with the eastern and
northern sections. Fruitdale adjoins the southern limits of the city.
The total population of the city s metropolitan area in 1940 was esti
mated at 380,000.
Unlike some other Texas cities, Dallas has no tradition of in
vasions and battles, or of wild days when cattlemen, gamblers, and out
laws participated in lurid scenes of violence. It came into existence as
a serious community with citizens of a peaceable and cultured type. In
addition to its leadership in the handling of cotton and in manufacturing,
Dallas ranks second in the Nation s per capita express business, fifth
among telegraphic centers, and fourth among insurance centers. As
headquarters of one of the 12 districts in the Federal Reserve Bank
system, it serves the financial needs of Texas and parts of Louisiana,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Commercially, it can be said that even before Dallas existed it was
a trade center. At the turn of the eighteenth century French traders
from Louisiana penetrated to the Dallas area (1712, 1719, and 1771),
to barter with the Anadarkos, a Caddo tribe that lived in conical grass
huts along the banks of the Trinity.
John Neely Bryan came to Texas from Van Buren, Arkansas, in
1840, intending to establish a trading post on the upper Trinity. Find
ing the Indians friendly, he built a hut on the river s east bank in 1841,
becoming the first white settler of present-day Dallas. Bryan probably
chose his site because the Republic of Texas had already provided for
a military highway from Austin to the Red River to cross the Trinity
River "at or near its three forks."
As this road, a survey of which was begun in September, 1840,
came into use, Bryan abandoned his projected trading post and started
a town on his 64O-acre headright tract.
Texas in the meantime had contracted (February 4, 1841), with
William S. Peters and his associates of Louisville, Kentucky, for settle
ment of a land grant, covering approximately 16,000 square miles in the
region of the upper Trinity. This grant became known as Peters
Colony, although the name of the company formed to operate it was the
Texan Emigration Land Company.
The first actual settlement of Dallas began in 1842, when Bryan
persuaded three families to move to his site from Bird s Fort, a Ranger
stockade to the northwest. Other settlers took up residence in the vil
lage, which was called Dallas as early as 1842. The origin of the
town s name is uncertain, one group of historians believing it was named
for George Mifflin Dallas, a Pennsylvanian who three years later be
came Vice President of the United States; another group that the name
honored Commander Alexander James Dallas of the United States
Navy, brother of George Mifflin Dallas; a third that the town was
named for Joseph Dallas, a friend of John Neely Bryan, who came to
the region from Washington County, Arkansas, in 1843, and settled at
Cedar Springs, now within the Dallas city limits. There is no reason
able doubt, however, that the county of Dallas, which was organized
DALLAS 227
in 1846, was named by the Texas legislature in honor of George
Mifflin Dallas, who had been elected Vice President partly on the issue
of Texas annexation.
In 1846 the town site was surveyed and platted. Bryan had been
appointed postmaster, and used his home both for a post office and store,
carrying a stock of powder, lead, whisky, and tobacco.
Judge William Hord, in 1845, started a settlement on the west
bank of the Trinity called Hord s Ridge (present Oak Cliff). His
original cabin is at the entrance to Marsalis Park. Hord s Ridge was
soon contesting with Dallas for the site of the new Dallas County seat,
but was defeated at the polls in 1850. Dallas acquired a newspaper
in 1849, the printing press and the town s first piano arriving simul
taneously by oxcart. A school, a bowling alley, a wagon and buggy
factory, and a tavern were established. Alexander Cockrell, a Ken-
tuckian, engaged in the manufacture of bricks, branched into the lum
ber business and started a building campaign. He operated a ferry over
the Trinity and later built a bridge across it.
Most of the settlers in Peters Colony, after they had filed colonist
headrights with a special land commissioner, failed to have their lands
surveyed. Consequently the Texan Emigration Land Company could
not determine which were the alternate sections allowed them by the
State in payment for colonizing the area. The company appealed to
the legislature, which in 1852 passed an act compelling all settlers to
have their holdings surveyed. Fearing that through this act they might
lose their farms, Dallas County citizens, led by Captain John J. Good,
marched on the land company s headquarters at Stewartville in Denton
County and threatened to lynch the agent. After much agitation, the
legislature reversed its stand and gave the settlers deeds to their home
steads.
John Neely Bryan sold his holdings in the town of Dallas in 1852
to Alexander Cockrell for $7,000.
About the same time efforts were made toward establishing water
transportation on the Trinity and in 1852 J. W. Smith, pioneer
merchant, poled a flatboat out of Dallas, with Galveston as its destina
tion. The boat was unable to get farther than Porter s Bluff, near
Corsicana, and the hope of transportation of freight by river boat
temporarily subsided.
In the spring of 1854 a dozen men, wearing long smocks and speak
ing a strange language, arrived in Dallas from France, by way of New
Orleans. They formed the advance guard of about 350 Frenchmen,
Belgians, and Swiss recruited by Victor Considerant, a disciple of
Frangois Charles Marie Fourier, French socialist, to establish a co
operative community in the Texas wilderness. The main body of the
immigrants, about 200, arrived with a caravan of oxcarts from Houston,
on June 16, 1855.
Among these European immigrants were highly educated profes
sional men, scientists, artists, authors, musicians, naturalists; experts in
everything but the practical skill required to wrest a living from a
228 TEXAS
primitive land. After three years of struggle with droughts, grass
hoppers, and "blue northers," they disbanded their colony, La Reunion,
which had been established four miles west of Dallas. Many of them
moved to Dallas, thus adding to the local population a body of trained
and talented men, unusual in frontier settlements.
The town was incorporated in 1856. The building campaign, then
in progress, attracted a floating population of buffalo hunters, trappers,
and unskilled laborers which threatened disorder, but immediate steps
were taken to meet the threat. The tin cup and the whisky barrel-
free drinks to customers were banished from the settlement s stores
and gambling houses were subdued.
Private schools were available to those w r ho could afford them,
and schools for the poor were supported by assessments from community
funds. Itinerant preachers attracted crowds to camp meetings as early
as 1844, and regular Protestant church services started in 1846.
During the Civil War a concentration camp for Confederate troops,
and offices of the quartermaster and commissary departments of the
trans-Mississippi armies were established in Dallas. In the war years,
the town s population of 2,000 increased rapidly; the growth continued,
on a more substantial basis, when Reconstruction brought settlers from
other Southern States, ruined by the war. Cotton growers soon dis
covered that the black lands of Texas were the finest they had ever
seen, and were not long in returning to their favorite crop and prosper
ing thereby. Dallas prospered in proportion.
In 1868, a stern-wheel steamboat succeeded in completing the trip
from Galveston to Dallas, but it took a year and four days.
The Houston and Texas Central brought the first train to Dallas
in July, 1872, while 5,000 shouting, perspiring people milled around
in the dust, struggling for a better view of this emblem of progress.
It had taken 24 years, a bonus of $5,000 in cash, 115 acres of land, and
a free right-of-way to induce the railroad to come to Dallas, but less
than a year after its arrival the population rose from 3,000 to 6,000.
A year later the Texas and Pacific arrived.
Then Dallas really began to boom. From the Blacklands and the
Grand Prairie long wagon trains brought wheat, wool, cotton, and
hides. Sheep and cattle were driven in. Passenger fares, cut to half
the stagecoach rate, encouraged travel by rail. The town was swamped.
Wagons jammed the streets and sank to the hubs in black, waxy mud.
Dallas was hammering away to obtain a railroad of its own toward
Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the panic of 1873 delayed construction,
but a depression could only delay, not stop the frantic building. The
road to Santa Fe did not materialize, but by 1886 Dallas had six rail
roads and a population approaching 35,000. In that year the city s
first cotton mill was established. The Trinity River Navigation and
Improvement Company, in 1893, succeeded in bringing a n 3-foot stern-
wheeler from Galveston to Dallas in a little over a month.
The city streets (already made dangerous by grade crossings) were
too narrow for necessary traffic, and tracks blocked the normal north-
DALLAS 229
ward expansion of the business district, forcing it to spread to the east
along three different streets.
Dallas was a strangled, congested city. Four walls and a roof con
stituted a building unless it had architectural pretensions of the "ginger
bread" era, expressed in turrets, cupolas, and scrolls. The Praetorian
Building, built in 1907, C. W. Bulger & Son, architects, was 15 stories
above a jumble of roofs and was hailed as "the first skyscraper in
Texas." It marked the turning point in construction, although it is
Victorian in style.
The need for something other than rapid growth was emphasized
when the Trinity River broke its own record for floods in 1908, driv
ing 2,000 people from their homes and causing damage of two million
dollars. For three nights the city was in darkness. The drinking
water supply was cut off and an epidemic of malaria followed. It was
realized that conditions called for an immediate remedy.
This nebulous idea was crystallized by the Dallas News, which
published a series of articles on the work of the American City Plan
ning Congress and another series on Dallas unplanned and unsightly
state. By January, 1910, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, con
verted to the News proposal, formed the Dallas City Plan and Im
provement League and induced the. mayor and city commissioners to
employ George E. Kessler, a pioneer city planning engineer.
The completed Kessler plan so staggered the city fathers by what
then seemed the impossibility of its objectives, that several years passed
before anything further was done. Not only did the plan involve the
opening and widening of downtown streets, the building of a union
station, and the consolidation of freight terminals, but it also proposed
to move and straighten the channel of the Trinity and to move the
tracks of the Texas and Pacific out of town. The last produced a ter
rific hue and cry from the railroad company and from the business in
terests extended along the tracks.
By 1912, the Houston Street viaduct, 1.16 miles long, solved the
transit problem between Dallas and Oak Cliff. The Union Terminal,
of modern classic design, Jarvis Hunt of Chicago, architect, was opened
in 1916, and the Kessler street-widening program was under way.
During that same period the river and the railroad tracks were
both helping to keep the plan s memory green. When floods surged
ominously through the valley, citizens remembered they had no pro
tection against the invading waters and that "the plan" had been de
vised to keep floods in leash. The incessant clanging of the trains,
once music to the ears of all citizens, was a steady reminder in another
direction. The danger from the Texas and Pacific trains which, enter
ing the city on the upgrade, had to pass along Pacific Avenue at con
siderable speed, was too frequently dramatized by accidents and deaths.
Groups, individuals, and press continued to agitate the idea until
the Kessler plan was revived and the mayor appointed a commission to
devise ways and means. In April, 1919, the city charter was amended to
provide for an official plan commission, but the city had grown so much
23O TEXAS
in the meantime it was necessary to bring Kessler back, in 1920, to revise
his plan.
The revision, expanded, was basically the same. In addition to
straightening the Trinity River channel, it called for flood control and
land reclamation ; the construction of the belt line railroad to eliminate
grade crossings; building inner and outer boulevards; segregating land
areas for adaptable uses and to prevent infringement of business upon
residential districts and the consequent creation of "blighted districts."
This required immense sums of money, which could not be raised
without tremendous effort and constant agitation. The News continued
its campaign. Other papers co-operated. To complete the street-
widening projects property owners were assessed in proportion to the
benefit to be derived by them from the improvement. In 1925 the
Texas and Pacific s double line of tracks and switches were removed
from downtown Pacific Avenue.
The city s growth had by then outstripped its water supply in White
Rock Lake reservoir and a dam was constructed in the Elm Fork of the
Trinity River, 30 miles north of Dallas, to form Lake Dallas (see Tour
7a). The lake, now the main water supply of the city, has a storage
capacity of 63 billion gallons.
Soon the beneficial effects of the Kessler city plan were visible every
where. New buildings sprang up along the widened streets. Pacific
Avenue, freed of railroad tracks, became an attractive boulevard and the
city s traffic flowed freely north and south along widened intersecting
streets. So convincing was the contrast between before and after,"
that public approval, capping the vast sums already expended, voted an
omnibus bond issue of $23,900,000 in 1927 to complete the Kessler plan
and other improvements.
Spots for scenic boulevards and parks were donated by citizens, form
ing the nucleus of a park area that in 1940 had 5,235 acres.
In 1926 property owners in the Trinity River Valley organized the
City and County of Dallas Levee Improvement District. Its objec
tives were both flood control and development of the zoning idea to
provide an industrial district. Work was started in 1928 to unite two
forks of the river and change its channel, moving 21 million cubic yards
of earth, reclaiming 10,553 acres for industrial purposes, and leveeing
the new channel to free the city from danger of floods. It was finished
in 1931-
That was not all. The two parts of the city east and west of the
river were joined by four additional modern steel and concrete viaducts.
May 2, 1936, marked the completion of four underpasses, carrying con
necting highways under railway tracks to these viaducts. This gave the
city a total of seven river crossings.
Dallas has manufacturing and distributing plants in sufficient num
ber and variety to present an interesting picture. The Ford assembly
plant, factory branches for distribution of other makes of automobiles
and trucks, factories turning out cotton cloth, cotton gins, cotton oil
products, cotton and silk hosiery, soft drinks, oil well machinery, and
DALLAS 231
paints and varnishes are in the larger unit group. Other factory units
include those making women s dresses, millinery, men s work garments,
hats, ties, chemicals, cosmetics, pottery, and furniture. In volume of
business transacted annually in the industries, the wholesale trade ranks
first, with retail trade and manufacturing taking second and third place.
Dallas has been only intermittently disturbed by labor troubles
through its industrial history. A strike in the needlework trades in
1935 and an attempt to organize the Ford assembly plant in 1937 were
noteworthy industrial disputes of recent years. Dallas is known as an
"open shop" city, but ranks of organized labor have been materially
augmented since 1930.
Dallas city government is operated under council city-manager form,
adopted by charter amendments in 1931. One of the accomplishments
of this system has been budget control under which the budget is based
on reasonable expectancy of tax collection. The new system has re
sulted in an annual "underrun," or saving, below budget allotments.
The Negro is the largest of the minority racial groups in the city.
Dallas Negroes live in three main districts: Thomas Avenue in the
northern part of the city, Wheatley Place in southern Dallas named
for Phyllis Wheatley, Negro poet and the Deep Ellum-Hall Street
district. The Negro sections have their own business enterprises, pro
fessional people, service organizations, chamber of commerce, two news
papers, clubs and churches, and a Little Theater movement. The Na
tional Negro Medical Association has a local office in Dallas with 23
members. In addition to the Booker T. Washington and Lincoln High
Schools and numerous grade schools are the Wiley Junior College, a
unit of Wiley College for Negroes in Marshall, Texas, and two busi
ness schools. Three of the nine grade schools adjoin parks which are
general Negro recreation centers with baseball diamonds and tennis
courts.
The city s cultural development dates back to the arrival of the
settlers from La Reunion. Foremost among those early contributors
to Dallas culture was Julien Reverchon, for whom Reverchon Park
was named. An internationally known botanist, he came to La Re
union as a youth with his father, Jacques Maximilian Reverchon. Other
members of the colony brought the civilizing influences of art salons,
dancing academies, and instrumental music to the young town.
The first opera house, called Field s Theater, carried many famous
names on its programs. Sarah Bernhardt, Frederick Warde, Edwin
Booth, and Maurice Barrymore found that the theater lacked dressing
rooms but offered a clamorous and appreciative audience. The present
Dallas Little Theater is very active (see The Theater). Interest in
music, literature, the drama, and art is a vital part of the city s tradition.
A symphony orchestra has 80 professional musicians and numerous
musical organizations are centered in the Federation of Music Clubs.
David Guion, composer, arranger, and teacher, formerly made his home
in Dallas.
Community interest in art was first aroused when Professor Richard
232 TEXAS
Lentz traded his painting entitled View of Dallas from Oak Cliff for
a town lot in 1887, thus proving art a tangible thing which could be
made to produce material returns. Commercial art and art schools
have found a fruitful field in Dallas. Frank Reaugh, artist and teacher,
is the best known of the local painters. His work is principally of cat
tle trail scenes. Interesting for their vivid color and spirited detail
are two murals by Peter Kurd, New Mexican artist, in the United
States Terminal Annex Post Office, Houston Street between the Union
Terminal Station and Triple Underpass. One, called Air Mail Over
Texas shows a plane flying over a lonely ranch house; the other repre
sents a pioneer family erecting a log house on the north Texas prairies.
John Henry Brown, mayor of Dallas in 1885-1887, was the author
of several volumes on Texas, including a history. Best known of the
contemporary professional writers who make their homes in Dallas are
Helen Topping Miller, Norma Patterson, Margaret Bell Houston,
Eliza Calvert Hall Obenchain, Grace Noll Crowell, John William
Rogers, Jan Isbell Fortune, and Hilton B. Greer. Dallas was the locale
of some of the Earthworm Tractor stories of William Hazlitt Upson,
once a machinery salesman in the city.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. JOHN NEELY BRYAN CABIN (not open], courthouse lawn,
Commerce and Houston Sts., is a reconstruction of the first log cabin
built in Dallas. It stands on the site where the founder of the city built
it for his bride in 1843. The cabin served as a Texas Republic post
office, and from 1848 to 1850 as a temporary courthouse.
The one-room structure is about 16 feet square, built of 1 2-inch
hewn cedar logs, chinked with clay. In the center of the front wall is
the only door, made of heavy planks and operated by a latchstring.
Built against the west wall is an outside chimney of limestone. There
are two windows, both protected by heavy wooden shutters hung on
hand-wrought hinges. The roof, the only part of the cabin not in the
original building, is of hand-made shingles. The room has a puncheon
floor cedar logs hewn flat and a limestone fireplace.
2. DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY (open g-g workdays, 2-6 Su?i.),
SW. corner Harwood and Commerce Sts., contains 148,635 volumes, a
Braille library and a circulating collection of 26,720 mounted pictures.
The stone and brick structure is of classical design and was erected in
1901, Sanguinet & Staats, architects. In the lobby there is a rare
Navajo sand painting of a Yay (holy man). In the main corridor
is the Jules Schneider monument, a white Italian marble fountain exe
cuted in Italy by an Italian sculptor.
3. SULLIVAN PARK (adm. free}, S. Ervay and Pocahontas Sts.,
purchased in 1881, is the oldest park in Dallas, and once contained a
zoo. From 1871 to 1881 this site was called Browder Springs, which
were the source of the city s first water supply. When the land grant
bill to aid the Texas and Pacific Railroad was pending in the legisla-
DALLAS 233
ture in 1871, John W. Lane of Dallas proposed an amendment requir
ing the road to build within "one mile of Browder Springs." Few
legislators knew of Browder Springs and the amendment was accepted,
changing the proposed route, which would have missed Dallas by eight
miles. In the northeast section of the park.is the CONFEDERATE MONU
MENT, Frank Teich, sculptor.
4. DEEP ELLUM, Elm St. between Preston and Good Sts., is the
congested Negro amusement and shopping district regarded by edu
cated Negroes as being separate and distinct from other Negro business
and social centers that lies along both sides of Elm Street, with the
section surrounding it for about two blocks north and south. Deep
Ellum grew as naturally as weeds. It had its beginning in Freedman s
Town, a settlement of freed slaves, in 1865. In its mart of second
hand stores, pawn shops, cafes and poolrooms, automobile graveyards
and parts stores, it is possible to buy anything from a threadbare cloth-
of-gold evening gown to a folding bathtub. From an establishment on
Central Avenue come "wish-fulfillments" in ten-cent packages; love
potions for the indifferent ; incense and lucky numbers ; magnetic lode-
stones for poker players and "van van oil" to shake the jinx. Pitchmen
hawk their wares, while in the street frenzied evangelists exhort, often
unnoticed.
The streets of Deep Ellum are long and narrow, ending in alleys.
At dusk the district begins to vibrate, and along Negro Dallas great
white way the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, Colored, looms
above the Harlem movie house, cafes, pool halls, and the Gypsy Tea
Room. Cuttings and shootings are not uncommon, particularly on Sat
urdays. Deep Ellum is a district sleepily quiet or recklessly gay, but in
either mood it is easily aroused to quick violence.
5. The DALLAS COTTON EXCHANGE, SE. corner St. Paul and
San Jacinto Sts., is the hub of the Dallas cotton industry. The ex
change is housed in its own 1 7-story modern building of reinforced con
crete with dark buff tapestry brick, ornamental stone, and terra-cotta
trim, completed in 1926, Lang & Witchell, architects. During a nor
mal year the exchange handles approximately 2,500,000 bales of cotton.
6. The DALLAS LITTLE THEATER, 3104 Maple Ave. (see
The Theater], is of modified Italian Renaissance design, Henry Coke
Knight and Arthur E. Thomas, associate architects. It is a two-story
building of cream-colored brick. A school of the theater was inaug
urated in 1935.
7. ROBERT E. LEE PARK, Hall St. and Turtle Creek Blvd., con-
tains a community house which is a reproduction of Arlington, the Vir
ginia home of Robert E. Lee. In the SW. corner of the park is a
STATUE OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE on his favorite horse, Traveler,
with an accompanying orderly, also mounted, sculptured by Phimister
Proctor and dedicated in June, 1936, by President Franklin D. Roose
velt.
8. SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, on Hillcrest Ave.,
in the residential suburb of University Park, is 4 m. N. of the Dallas
234 TEXAS
business center. Prominent both scholastically and for its prowess
in athletics, Southern Methodist University is one of the Nation s most
widely known educational institutions. It was established in 1910 by
the five annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
in Texas, and opened in 1915. Thirteen buildings (1940), most of
them in uniform Georgian Colonial architecture in red brick and stone,
are on a formally landscaped campus of 133 acres, the buildings partly
hidden by native trees and shrubbery. The university is co-educational.
Enrollment (1938-39) was more than 3,800 students.
The McCoRD THEATER MUSEUM (open daylight hours work
days), in Dallas Hall, was organized by a group of theater workers and
alumni of Southern Methodist University to collect and preserve theat
rical materials, especially from Texas. It was named for Mary Mc-
Cord, head of the public speaking department, and at the time was
one of three such organizations in the United States and the first in
the South. There are 35,000 catalogued articles, including collections
on the Continental, Chinese, and Russian theater. The Texas theater
is represented by portraits of Texas actors, managers, singers and
dancers, programs, scrapbooks, and old scenery and properties. During
the spring homecoming the museum has a display in Arden Hall. Spe
cial public exhibits are held.
The UNIVERSITY LIBRARY (open 9-4 workdays), contains more
than 90,000 bound volumes and 15,000 pamphlets. The library owns
several private collections, including one of early Texas and rare In
dian material, another an extensive compilation of John Wesleyana.
Separate scientific and theological libraries are included in its facilities.
The main library is housed in the new Fondren Library Building, com
pleted in 1940, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Fondren of Houston.
The GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM (open 9-4 workdays), in Hyer Hall,
began as a small exhibit of the Anthropology Society at the State Fair
of Texas. Removed in 1914 to the university, it formed the nucleus
of the present collection that includes specimens of quartz crystals,
one weighing 100 pounds, fossils of prehistoric animals taken from
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
DALLAS DOWNTOWN. Points of Interest
1. John Neely Bryan Cabin
2. Dallas Public Library
3. Sullivan Park
4. Deep Ellum
5. Dallas Cotton Exchange
6. Dallas Little Theater
7. Robert E. Lee Park
D^
236 TEXAS
Dallas sand pits, an exhibit of tools used by prehistoric man in England,
and rare weapons from Australia.
The A. V. LANE MUSEUM (open 9-4 zvorkdays), first floor Kirby
Hall, contains Oriental and Graeco-Roman archeological exhibits, and
a pre-Aztec and pre-Inca collection from Latin America, clay cylinders
and tablets from Babylon, papyri from Egypt, and an Egyptian mummy.
In the southwest corner of the campus a small wooded area, ARDEX
FOREST, so named for a Shakespearian play given here by the University
Dramatic Society in 1916, is said to have been used as a hideout by Sam
Bass, the notorious train and bank robber of the iSyo s.
9. FAIR PARK, in East Dallas, main entrance on Parry Ave., covers
178 acres of landscaped grounds and is the site of the State Fair of
Texas. The Texas Centennial Exposition was held here in 1936, the
Greater Texas and Pan-American Exposition in 1937.
In 1886 the State Fair of Texas was organized, and 100 acres of
land purchased in 1887. Since then it has developed rapidly into one
of the State s major enterprises. Twenty-one of the Centennial build
ings of 1936 were retained as the permanent home of the State Fair.
In a setting of trees, shrubs, lawns, and lagoons, the buildings of cream
limestone, relieved by murals and trimmings of rose-colored Texas
granite, reflect the ancient Aztec style of architecture in straight for
mal lines, combined with modern treatment with a leaning toward sharp
angles and large unbroken planes.
Of the permanent Fair Park buildings, the six museums, the Texas
Hall of State, also a repository for records of the Dallas Historical So
ciety, the Museums of Natural History, Fine Arts, Horticulture, and
Natural Resources, maintained by the Dallas Park Department, remain
open throughout the year. Other important buildings are the Audi
torium, the Petroleum and Educational Buildings, and the Amphi
theater. The museum buildings are grouped about the lagoon in the
southwest section of the park. George L. Dahl was director general of
the group of architects who designed the buildings.
The TEXAS HALL OF STATE (open 9-5 workdays; 2-6 Sun.), fac
ing the State Court of Honor, is a permanent monument in the form
of a historical museum and memorial to the pioneers who won Texas
independence. It is built of Texas materials in neoclassic design. The
Dallas Historical Society Museum, containing a large collection of
Texiana, Mexicana, and Indian artifacts, is in this building.
In the entrance is the statue, TEJAS BRONZE INDIAN, by Allie
Tennant. Life-size bronze portrait statues of six Texans occupy the
Hall of Heroes: Stephen F. Austin, General Sam Houston, David
Crockett, Mirabeaii B. Lamar, Thomas J. Rusk, and Colonel J. W.
Fannin, Jr. The statues were sculptured by Pompeo Coppini. The two
front wings of the building are devoted to the Halls of East Texas,
West Texas, North Texas, and South Texas, and with interior finish
ing largely of Texas materials. Murals by Savage adorn the walls.
The MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (open 8-5 ^uorkdays, 2-7
Sun.), facing east toward the lagoon, is neoclassic in design, of cream-
DALLAS 237
colored limestone. It is a two-story building, its walls unbroken by
windows or other openings, except the entrance and the high windows
serving the lobbies. Carved stone plaques relieve the wall expanse
while at intervals pilasters rise from the base to the cutstone entabla
ture. The trim used for the entrance and windows is aluminum.
The museum is divided into four great halls, in two of which are
shown Texas mammals. Thirty-three bird groups occupy the other
two. Native grasses, trees, rocks and shrubs provide for each exhibit
its natural environment. There is also an exhibit of mineral resources
of Texas, w r ild flower paintings and fossils and restorations of rare
fossils.
The MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (open 8-$ workdays, 2-7 Sun.), Sec
ond Ave., between Grand Ave. and Trezevant St., is along neoclassic
lines, with touches of the Southwest. The structure is of cream-colored
limestone combined with red granite. On a coping of cream limestone
are carved the names of noted artists. A terraced garden provides a
beautiful setting.
The art exhibit includes sculpture and 1 60 paintings in the permanent
collection, among them a Van Dyck, Countess of Oxford, and Saint
Jerome and Saint Francis by Guisto d Andrea. There are also two
loan collections, one of old masters, the other of nineteenth century
paintings. Exhibits from the International Art Association and from
local artists alternate every two weeks. The collection of the Dallas
Art Association was started in 1901 and is maintained by a trust fund.
The HORTICULTURE MUSEUM (not open; used only for storage
purposes), in the S. corner of the park, is of San Saba marble, Cordova
cream limestone, and red gum wood in the neoclassic style. Its ground
plan is an extended H, the main hall forming the connecting bar be
tween wings. Exterior walls are of limestone blocks, their smooth sur
face relieved by carved stone trim.
The main entrance is through large doors opening into the loggia,
giving entry to the main hall. A left w r ing houses the winter garden,
with a large fountain in the center. The right wing contains a lecture
room and smaller exhibit halls.
The museum is surrounded by gardens for summer display of flowers
Key to Map on the Following Two Pages.
DALLAS VICINITY. Points of Interest
8. Southern Methodist University
9. Fair Park
10. Marsalis Park
11. White Rock Lake Park
12. Site of La Reunion
13. Buckner s Orphans Home
To
ki Gainesville
Oklahoma City GRAPEVINE
-fgoKEI}- U.S.,State Highways
1 Connecting "Roads
Points of Interest -Symbol
* Historical Points of Interest
Points of Interest-Number
* Educational Institution
County Boundary
Rivers
Railroads
Levees
Interurban
tt ft 1 1* r^it\i
II 1 1 ir wiiy
Creeks
.0 Towns
^Airport
pi Go If ing
Duncanville
Cleburne
San Angela
/
Wheatlan
B
DALLAS
VICINITY
240 TEXAS
and plants which are transferred to the heated interior in cold weather.
Flowers and rare plants native to Texas grow under conditions as
nearly like those of their natural habitat as possible.
The AQUARIUM (open 8-5 workdays, 2-7 Sun.), facing H. A.
Olmsted Drive, is of neoclassic design, similar to the other buildings of
this group, with walls of cream limestone combined with hard shell-
stone. In the center of one long side is the high-pillared entry. The
smooth, severe lines of the two wings are broken by recessed panels,
topped by marine carvings in stone. There are 44 plate glass display
tanks, containing a fairly representative assortment of fish from Texas
and other States.
The MUSEUM OF NATURAL RESOURCES (open 7-5 workdays, 2-5
Sun.), Yopp Drive and Ranger Circle, is an L-shaped building faced
with ashlar cream Cordova stone. Its severe neoclassic lines are modi
fied by Georgian and modernized colonial influences. It houses the
varied exhibits, as yet incomplete, of the Texas Institute of Natural Re
sources.
Fair Park Museums are part of the Civic Center of Dallas, and are
the property of the city.
SYDNEY SMITH MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN, commonly called the Gulf
Cloud, was executed by Clyde Chandler, Dallas sculptor, and stands in
a circular plot of grass and flow r ers in front of the auditorium. Sydney
Smith for 26 years was secretary of the State Fair of Texas.
10. MARSALIS PARK (adm. free}, main entrance Thirteenth St.
at Crawford St., covers about 50 acres along the wooded course of
Cedar Creek in Oak Cliff.
The old HORD HOUSE (open on application to custodian of Marsalis
Pumping Station across street), near Opera St. entrance at NE. corner
of the park, is a reconstruction of the first house built in Oak Cliff
and one of the oldest in Dallas. A story and a half in height, it was
built in 1845 of squared logs with a chimney of white limestone blocks
by Judge William H. Hord, for whom the settlement of Herd s Ridge
(now Oak Cliff) was named. It was reconstructed by Martin Weiss in
1927 and house and grounds are loaned for parties and picnics.
The MUNICIPAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN (open daylight hours,
free), along both sides of the creek, is the park s chief attraction. It
contains about 700 animals, birds and reptiles, and is one of the ten
largest municipal zoos in the country. The Dallas Municipal Zoo
really began in 1904 with 27 Texas animals and snakes acquired from
the State Fair of Texas. In 1920 Frank (Bring-Em-Back-Alive)
Buck, who spent his youth in the city, under contract with the Dallas
Park Board brought back from Asia and the East Indies a collection
of animals, birds and reptiles to give Dallas a solid basis for a first-
class zoological garden. The collection has grown each year with addi
tions obtained through purchases, gifts, or exchange of young animals
and birds with other zoos.
1 1. WHITE ROCK LAKE PARK (adm. free), in the extreme north
eastern part of the city between the Northwest Highway and US 67,
DALLAS 241
with an area of 2,314 acres, is one of the largest municipal parks in
Texas. It extends around the shores of White Rock Lake, covering
1,350 acres, which serves Dallas as a reserve water storage basin. The
park offers picnicking, horseback riding, fishing, boating, bathing and
aquatic sports, including annual regattas for sailboats and inboard and
outboard motor craft. There are several clubhouses, numerous private
fishing and boating camps and a municipal bathing beach, fish hatchery
and boathouse. The dam, spillway, and emergency filtration plant are
at the southern end of the lake ; near the northern end an archipelago of
small artificial islands is being constructed with silt removed from
adjacent marshy inlets. All points along the lake shore are reached from
a circular drive.
12. The SITE OF LA REUNION, north of Fort Worth Cut-off
Rd., at Westmoreland Rd., is marked by the crumbling foundations of
a single house, all that remains of the ill-fated French Utopian colony
established in this area in 1855. The house was built in 1859 for the
widow of Alphonse Delord after the cooperative colony had ceased to
function as such. The main settlement on a limestone bluff farther
north along Eagle Ford Road was obliterated by blasting to make way
for a cement plant. Some of the graves of the colonists can be seen in
FISHTRAP CEMETERY, W. side of Fishtrap Rd., 0.5 in. N. of Eagle
Ford Rd.
13. BUCKNER S ORPHANS HOME (open daily except Sat.), E.
Pike and Buckner Blvd., occupies a tract of more than 2,000 acres.
There are 20 red brick buildings in uniform Georgian style with red
tile roofs and white stone trim. The institution, which admits boys
and girls of any or no religious faith, is maintained by endowment,
private contributions, and the Baptist General Convention of Texas,
and has cared for some 45,000 orphans during the 6o-odd years of its
existence, having 647 residents in 1940. It supplies both vocational
training and academic education, and operates a scientifically cultivated
farm and modern dairy. The Reverend Robert Cooke Buckner, a
Baptist minister, established it in a rented cottage in Dallas in 1879;
it was moved to its present location in 1880. Since that time it has
been continuously under the direction of Robert Cooke Buckner and his
two sons. The Home rendered an important service in caring for chil
dren orphaned by the Galveston storm in 1900. A bronze statue of the
founder stands in the middle of the central plaza on the campus.
ZK&XK^^
El Paso
Railroad Station: Union Station, San Francisco and S. Davis Sts., for Southern
Pacific Lines, Texas & Pacific Ry., Santa Fe, and National Railways of Mexico.
Bus Stations: Greyhound Bus Station, 212 San Francisco St., for Southwestern
Greyhound Lines, Carlsbad Cavern Coaches, New Mexico Transportation Co.,
Inc., Parrish Stage Lines, Santa Fe Trailways and Gray Line Sightseeing
Tours; 129 San Francisco St., for All American Bus Lines, Inc.
Airport: 7 m. NE. on US 62, L. on Fred Wilson Rd., for American Airlines,
Inc., and Continental Air Lines, Inc.; taxi 75^, time 20 min.
Streetcars and City Busses: Fare, 6^; to Fort Bliss, streetcars 6^, busses 10^ ;
streetcars to Juarez, 6tf.
Taxis: Fares 25^ first mile, 2o<i second, 10^ each additional mile.
Traffic Regulations: Left turns permitted in business district; no U turns
downtown; parking meters in downtown district.
International Bridges: (i) Foot of S. Stanton St., open 24 hours daily, one-way
entry, south; toll, car and driver io(f, 2$ each passenger, pedestrians, 2^;
(2) International Bridge, foot of S. Santa Fe St. in El Paso, in Juarez,
Avenida Juarez; open 24 hours daily; toll 3^ a car (U. S. currency); for
automobiles, entry to United States only; pedestrian traffic 2 ways: to Mexico
2^, United States, i^.
Accommodations: 19 hotels for whites, 5 for Negroes; 32 tourist lodges.
Information Service: Gateway Club and Chamber of Commerce, 310 San
Francisco St.; American Automobile Association, Hotel Paso del Norte, W. San
Antonio and S. El Paso Sts.
Radio Stations: KROD (1500 kc.) ; KTSM (1310 kc.).
Tennis: Memorial Park, E. end of Cooper St.; Washington Park, Alameda
Ave.; Hugo Meyer Recreational Center, N. Santa Fe, N. El Paso, W. Missouri
and W. Franklin Sts.
Swimming: Memorial Park, 10^ and 15^; Municipal Pool, Washington Park,
io<? ; Community Center indoor pool, 1309 N. Stanton St., 25^.
Golf: Valdespino Course (municipal), 6 m. NE., Fred Wilson Rd. and Logan
Ave., 27 holes, 55^.
Polo: Fort Bliss Polo Association, Armstrong Field, 4.5 m. NE., 25^ to 50^;
Border Polo Association, El Valle Polo Field, 5 m. E. on US 80, 50^.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Liberty Hall, in El Paso County Court
house, entrance 500 block E. Overland St., local and road productions; Com
munity Theater of El Paso, 1120 E. Yandell Blvd.; 10 motion picture houses.
Annual Events: Sun Carnival, Dec. 29-Jan. i, closing event, the Sun Bowl
football classic, New Year s Day; Southwestern Livestock Show, Exposition
Building, Washington Park, last week in Mar.; Easter Sunrise Service, El Paso
High School Stadium, Cliff, Ange, Virginia and Lowenstein Sts.; Fort Bliss
Polo Association Tournament, Armstrong Field, dates vary; Harvest Festival,
liberty Hall, Oct.; Pilgrimage to Sierra de Cristo Rey, religious procession in
celebration of the Feast of Christ the King, fourth Sun. in Oct., also in May
and on Palm Sunday; First Cavalry Division Horse Show, Howze Stadium,
Fort Bliss, Oct., 25^; Herald-Post Kids Rodeo, Rodeo Field, Findley St. between
Hammett Blvd. and Boone Ave., first week in Sept., 15^ and 35^; El Paso
Ranch Hands Rodeo (follows Kids Rodeo), Rodeo Field, 3^ and $1.10,
242
EL PASO 243
2 days; All Souls Day, Mexicans decorate cemeteries, Nov. 2; Los Pastor cs
(the Shepherds), Mexican nativity play, Dec. and Jan.
EL PASO (3,762 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 102,421; est. pop.
1940, 97,000) is the lowest natural pass in that region of deserts and
mountains where the westernmost tip of Texas touches the borders of
Mexico and New Mexico. A city has stood by "the Pass" since the
conquistadores first trudged through it, nearly four centuries ago ; and
since that time the trails of conquest, adventure and commerce, blazed
by people of four nations, have met and crossed at this point, leaving a
curious heritage of cultures. About 60 per cent of the residents are of
Mexican blood.
Northward rise the Franklin Mountains, a range of bare craggy
peaks, the highest of which reaches an elevation of 7,167 feet; to the
east lies an arid plains area that extends for hundreds of miles, broken
only by flat desert tablelands. South and west the mountains again
encroach upon the valley, the Sierra Madre forming an effective back
ground for El Paso s sister city, Juarez, across the Rio Grande in
Mexico. A mile west of the Texas-New Mexico Line the Sierra de
Cristo Rey is marked by a large white cross and statue, while the rift
in the mountains from which El Paso takes its name is illuminated at
night by a beacon, 4,722 feet above sea level, visible from some high
ways for more than 50 miles.
El Paso lies directly under the crumbling face of Comanche Peak,
spreading out fan-shaped around the foot of the mountain. In some
directions irrigation has made bright green gardens of the residential
section ; in others, as in Chihuahuita district and toward the west^ the
scene consists chiefly of brick and adobe houses. Fashionable resi
dences, largely of a modified Spanish or Pueblo architecture, lie near
the mountain, their roofs bright against gray rocks. Small shady parks
are numerous.
The city s international tone is evident everywhere ; on the streets,
which bear English and Spanish names, and where fluent Spanish is
spoken by Texans as well as Mexicans; in the schools, which face the
problem oi teaching more than 900 children who daily cross the bridge
from Juarez by special arrangement with immigration authorities; in
such segregated districts as Chihuahuita, where the sights and sounds,
manners and folkways of Mexico are found. The river, which before
the completion of the Rio Grande Rectification Project had a tendency
to change its course at will, has fostered the mixing of nationalities by
cutting off large slices from Mexico and putting them in Texas in re
turn for Texas lands transferred to Mexico.
One of these tracts is the Chamizal Zone, embracing a part of
South El Paso and the acreage extending eastward to Cordova Island.
The Chamizal Zone contains about 600 acres. An international dis
pute over this section was based on controversy regarding the cause of
the river s changed course. The Chamizal case was unsuccessfully
arbitrated in 1911, and has since remained under the de facto jurisdic-
244 TEXAS
tion of the United States. In 1940 the question remained unsettled,
with the United States operating its border inspection of customs, immi
gration, and public health, at the river s bank.
Cordova Island, an elongated tract containing about 382 acres and
adjoining the Chamizal Zone on the east, lies on the northerly side of
the Rio Grande by reason of an artificial cut made in 1899 across a
bend of the river; this tract has remained Mexican territory. It ex
tends as far north as Findley Street, its twisting boundary offering diffi
culties to the Border Patrol. Cordova Island is a part of the Juarez
Valley agricultural area. Because of its comparative isolation from
Mexico, it has only about 50 residents, its scattered adobe houses
tenanted chiefly by farmers. The boundary in this vicinity is a favorite
crossing for smugglers.
When Cabeza de Vaca was in the vicinity of the present-day city
of El Paso, in 1536, he visited Indian pueblos along the Rio Grande,
and wrote the earliest description of the people who then lived here :
They have the finest persons of any people we saw, of the greatest
activity and strength, who best understood us and intelligently answered
our inquiries. We called them the cow nation, because most of the
cattle (buffaloes) are killed and slaughtered in their neighborhood, and
along up that river for over fifty leagues they destroy great numbers."
Fray Agustin Rodriguez had come into this region in 1581, headed
northward; Antonio de Espejo arrived the following year. In 1598
came Juan de Oriate, who alone of the early explorers took formal
possession, proclaiming the country the property of King Philip II of
Spain. He reached the crossing of the Rio Grande on May 4, 1598,
and named it El Paso del Norte, "the Pass of the North."
Missionary efforts to convert the Mansos resulted, by 1659, in the
establishment of Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, in present
Ciudad Juarez. Other mission settlements sprang up on both sides of
the river, about 1680, when the Pueblos of New Mexico turned on the
Spanish colonists, who fled to the Rio Grande. El Paso del Norte
became the seat of government for northern Mexico and a base of opera
tions for attempted reconquest of the Pueblos in 1681, but not until
1827 was settlement made in present El Paso, that community growing
around the ranch house of Juan Maria Ponce de Leon.
Zebulon M. Pike, a United States Army officer who was arrested
and brought to El Paso for trespass on Spanish territory, in 1807 de
scribed the irrigated fields and vineyards of the town and the valley.
While here he wrote, "For hospitality, generosity, docility, and sobriety,
the people of New Spain exceed any nation perhaps on the globe."
El Paso del Norte knew little of the Texas Revolution, remaining
a thoroughly Mexican town long after Texas became a republic.
Prairie schooners were venturing across the Rocky Mountains to Cali
fornia and Oregon, and across the deserts to Sante Fe before Anglo-
Americans began trickling toward the mountain pass, attracted by trade
with Chihuahua and Sonora. James Wiley Magoffin, a Kentuckian,
came down th5 Santa Fe Trail in the early forties and built a home on
EL PASO 245
the north side of the river ; the settlement that sprang up around it was
called Magoffinsville.
Prisoners of the Santa Fe Expedition reached the Pass in the fall
of 1841. The military commandant of El Paso was furious at the
brutal treatment they had received and ordered them fed and clothed,
declaring a three-day rest before they resumed the journey to Mexico
City. Among the prisoners was George Wilkins Kendall, who wrote
of his experiences in his Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition.
He spoke well of El Paso s citizens, described the commandant as "a
well bred, liberal and gentlemanly officer," and said of the town :
"Almost the only place in Mexico I turned my back upon with anything
like regret was the lovely town or city of El Paso."
Colonel W. A. Doniphan descended from the mountains of New
Mexico in 1846 with his regiment, bringing the first taste of the Mex
ican War to the isolated station. The town of El Paso del Norte sur
rendered amiably, and was later split in half by the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo (1848), which made the Rio Grande the boundary between
Texas and Mexico.
Simeon Hart, of Ulster County, New York, started a mill by the
Rio Grande about 1850, establishing a community which became know r n
as Hart s. Benjamin F. Coontz (whose name is also spelled Coons
and Kuntz), having established a trading post near the two settle
ments, succeeded in obtaining a post office in 1852 for the town which
he founded and called Franklin. An extra Anglo-American element
had been added in 1849, when a detachment of United States Infantry
established the military post later to become Fort Bliss.
The California gold rush of 49 brought a surge of west-bound
traffic, and soon two important stage lines were sending their great
leather-slung coaches through the Pass. Franklin was an important
midway station when the Butterfield Stage Line opened the longest
overland mail coach line in the world, connecting St. Louis with San
Francisco.
Early travelers were surprised to find the valley a rich and flourish
ing vineyard. Grapes of an Asiatic variety were said to have been in
troduced by the Franciscans. By the middle of the nineteenth century
a traveler referred to El Paso del Norte as ". . . a city of some size
. . . many good homes, the vine extensively cultivated," with a great
trade in wine, raisins, and dried fruits. "Paso wine" and brandy were
shipped into Chihuahua, up through New Mexico and east over the
Santa Fe Trail, and for a time constituted the chief source of revenue.
Use of the name of Franklin was officially discontinued after 1859.
El Paso was still only a huddle of squat, one-story adobe houses wedged
in between the mountain range and the river, without even a mission
tower to break its flat sky line. The business district consisted of two
stage stations with corrals, a hotel, a few stores, and enough saloons to
satisfy everybody. The townspeople found leisure to watch for the in
coming stages, played monte, poker, and faro with the traders who rode
246 TEXAS
into town on regular sprees, and bet on straightaway races and cock
fights.
A relic of that period, preserved in the basement of the county
courthouse, is the stump of an old cottonwood, the "Notice Tree" which
stood where El Paso Street enters Pioneer Place. This tree was the
bulletin board where notices were posted for violators of the unwritten
code of the frontier town to "git." During this period the gunmen
aided the campaign by eliminating each other as fast as possible. The
people visited, traded, and intermarried across the river, celebrated the
same fiestas, venerated the same saints.
The Civil War came to El Paso with the surrender of the Federal
garrison at Fort Bliss, March 31, 1861. Texas troops occupied Fort
Bliss, July 14, 1 86 1, and on July 23, Colonel John Baylor moved north
up the valley against the Federals in New Mexico. By August I he had
accomplished his mission and returned to the El Paso region to establish
headquarters at Mesilla. Brigadier General H. H. Sibley reinforced
Baylor in December of 1861 and took over command of the column,
which was designated as the Army of New Mexico. Sibley made his
headquarters at Fort Bliss. After an ineffectual compaign to conquer
New Mexico, he withdrew to San Antonio about the middle of July,
1862. Federal troops occupied Fort Bliss on August 18. From that
time until the close of the war the Federals remained in undisputed con
trol of the Middle Valley of the Rio Grande.
El Paso was incorporated in 1873 when the population consisted
of 23 Anglo-Americans and 150 Mexicans. Benjamin S. Dowell, who
ran a saloon as a side line, was its first mayor. "Don Benito," as he
was called, found his hands full when he attempted to make the settle
ment a city. The first city ordinance made it "... a misdemeanor
for any person to bathe in any acequias in this city ... or to drive any
herds of sheep ... or other animals into any aceqma . . ."
The Apaches were making their final raids while prospectors
swarmed down from the Rocky Mountains, along with hordes of
desperadoes and gunmen who found the river at this point a convenient
crossing, all combining to keep the infant city in a state of turmoil.
The habits of the river added to the confusion. This stream, often
referred to as "a mile wide and a foot deep, too thin to plow and too
thick to drink," was forever changing its course. One might be living
in El Paso one day and in El Paso del Norte the next, and the lawless
of two nations evaded pursuit by simply wading into another country.
At that time the Indians, Spaniards, and Mexicans obtained water
by ditching it to their fields and homes from the river. Water from
shallow wells was unpalatable, and those who could afford it bought
drinking water from firms which obtained it in Deming, New Mexico.
Efforts to pipe water from the Rio Grande failed because silt clogged
the mains.
In 1877 El Paso felt certain effects of the Salt War, which cen
tered near San Elizario (see Tour igf}. During the height of this
controversy over the ownership of salt deposits, the handful of Anglo-
^^
Little Mexicos
3K&%&$^^^
KNTKRINU KL PASO FROM Jl ARKZ, MKXICO
CRUSHING CORN FOR TORTILLAS
Harvrv Pal If son
IN THE MEXICAN QUARTER, SAN ANTONIO
*^8
GIRI. GRINDING PKPPKRS
RKADY K)l< BATTUC
I
VVTA TIPK A DRCHKSTRA,
SAN ANTONIO
***,
I:
HOllSKWIFK, CRYSTAL CITY
The curtain is homo-made, of bottle caps
HOMKS IN MEXICAN QUARTER, SAN ANTONIO
CHAPEL OF MIRACLES, SAN ANTONIO
SHRINK IN A MKXICAN HOMK
I
(
IN A TORTILLA FACTORY
PECAN SMELLERS
EL PASO 247
American residents of the city sent their families to New Mexico as a
precautionary measure. But the only important local incident was the
slaying of Don Luis Cardis by Judge Charles Howard in the Schutz
store on San Francisco Street.
The coming of the railroads meant even more to isolated El Paso
than to other communities. The city was the goal of two transcon
tinental roads which raced for the strategic crossing near the Rio
Grande in the pass above the town. The Southern Pacific built east
ward from San Diego, California, the Texas and Pacific westward from
Fort Worth. It was a battle of money giants as well as of laboring
track crews. The financial manipulations of the Southern Pacific in
terests so delayed Texas and Pacific construction as to virtually put that
road out of the running. The Southern Pacific reached El Paso on
May 19, 1 88 1, and pushed on down the Middle Valley of the Rio
Grande, the second strategic point. Meantime, the Santa Fe built down
the valley of the Rio Grande, arriving at El Paso on June n. The
Texas and Pacific finally reached Sierra Blanca near El Paso on Janu
ary i, 1882, to make connection with the Southern Pacific at that point,
from where it continued westward over the tracks of the latter road.
At about the same time the Mexican Central was completed between
Juarez and Mexico City.
Population boomed, and along with the railroad builders and their
labor gangs came a rush of Wild West desperadoes and gamblers. El
Paso became a resort for gunmen, and gambling halls and saloons
blossomed.
The clash between lawless elements and "the law" provided the
basis for countless Western stories. Among gunmen who made their
headquarters in the city was John Wesley Hardin, reputed to have
killed 27 men.
Order was re-established through the efforts of a succession of
straight-shooting sheriffs, city marshals, and Texas Rangers. El Paso
voted out gambling houses and dance halls, and applauded the informal
kind of justice meted out to its undesirables.
Even after 1910, the city was frequently swept into turbulence.
Following the example of Benito Juarez, who took refuge in El Paso
del Ncrte in 1865 and from there returned to the Presidency of Mexico
when Maximilian was executed, Francisco I. Madero and his sup
porters, among them Guiseppi Garibaldi, grandson of the Italian
patriot, made El Paso headquarters for their revolutionary juntas; and
soldiers of fortune flocked to the city to take part in the fighting.
With the abdication of Porfirio Diaz, refugees from Chihuahua
poured into El Paso to- escape the revenge of the rebels, and many re
mained. While Pancho Villa harried the border, and the mountains
beyond Juarez rang with "La Cucaracha," revolutionary song of the
Villistas, the city again saw warfare.
In 1917 it was discovered that both El Paso and Juarez were lying
above an underground lake, and several deep wells provided an abund
ance of water. Elephant Butte Dam, 120 miles northward in New
248 TEXAS
Mexico, furnished irrigation for 74,600 acres in El Paso and Hudspeth
Counties, which would otherwise have remained a desert. Irrigated
fields yield sugar beets for seed purposes, tomatoes, chili peppers and
beans for local canning plants, and onions for an extensive market.
Pear orchards furnish a profitable yield. An especially fine grade of
long staple, strong fiber cotton is raised. Productivity of the valley soil
is evidenced in an average yield of more than one and a third bales to
the acre.
Mexican craftsmen weave rugs, blankets and sarapes on old-fash
ioned hand looms in their shops along Third Street, and modern fac
tories in the neighborhood of South Stanton and Second Streets make
tortillas. Pottery makers work in southern and eastern parts of the
city, especially in the vicinity of Washington Park. Another industry
is the manufacture of hand-tooled leather goods and furniture.
Prohibition served to awaken the city to its possibilities as a tourist
resort. Thousands flocked in to troop across the river to Juarez, and
El Paso throve accordingly. Today thousands of out-of-State visitors
come here. El Paso gives its visiting dignitaries a frontier welcome.
Yelling cowboys with barking six-shooters meet the train, and conduct
the usually somewhat surprised visitor to an old time stagecoach. The
Rancheros and members of the Sheriff s Posse, two greeter organiza
tions, ride in noisy escort to the stranger s destination.
El Paso holds a strategic position as a port of entry, being the larg
est city on the Texas-Mexico border, and across the river from the
largest city in northern Mexico. Crude ores are shipped to its smelter^
from mines in north Mexico, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona,
and quantities of refined ores are exported. El Paso has two canning
plants, two copper refineries, and several oil refineries. The city is head
quarters for the El Paso Customs District, which includes New Mex
ico and Texas, west of the Pecos River.
A huge conservation, flood control, power and irrigation project ex
tending along the Rio Grande- between Elephant Butte Dam and the
lower reaches of the river is progressively adding much to the city s
safety, beauty and potential wealth, in a program calculated to extend
over a period of years and at a cost that may reach one hundred million
dollars. A network of canals will extend the irrigation belt enor
mously; and the river channel will be straightened, reducing 155 miles
of its meandering course to 88 miles.
Two Federal housing projects, with a combined cost of $2,400,000,
in 1940 were under way. Federal Housing Slum Clearance Project
No. I has modernized a large area in the southern part of the city,
where 56 dwellings with 314 low-rent apartments have been erected.
POINTS OF INTEREST
I. SAN JACINTO PLAZA, bounded by Main, Mills and N. Oregon
Sts. and N. Mesa Ave., is said to mark the spot where Juan de Oriate
EL PASO 249
found a cultivated garden in 1598. Several alligators occupy a circular
pool almost hidden by a tangle of weeping willows.
2. The SITE OF THE JUAN MARIA PONCE DE LEON
HOME, NW. corner N. Oregon and Mills Sts., marked by a bronze
plaque, is occupied by the 12-story Anson Mills Building, said to have
been the first structure of monolithic reinforced concrete to be erected
in the United States.
3. CARNEGIE SQUARE, bounded by W. Franklin, N. Oregon, N.
El Paso and W. Missouri Sts., affords landscaped grounds for the EL
PASO PUBLIC LIBRARY (open workdays, g a.m.-g p.m.). The two-
story yellow brick structure is of classic style, designed by Mauran,
Russell and Garden of St. Louis, and houses 51,900 volumes, 26,997
pamphlets, 5,468 bound volumes of periodicals and 4,044 volumes of
reference work. Facing North Oregon Street is the MILLS MEMORIAL
SHAFT, honoring seven citizens of El Paso killed by Indians at Cook s
Spring, New Mexico, in 1861. As employees of the Southern Over
land Mail, they were attempting to prevent company property from
falling into the hands of the Confederates at the outbreak of the Civil
War.
4. The HUGO MEYER RECREATIONAL CENTER (open daily,
12 m.-8 p.m.), bounded by Franklin, N. Santa Fe, W. Missouri and
N. El Paso Sts., was formerly Cleveland Square. Cards issued by lead
ing hotels admit visitors free to the badminton, ring tennis and quoit
courts, the horseshoe and washer pitching lanes, the chess, checker and
domino tables and other recreational facilities.
5. The McGINTY CANNON, SW. corner W. Missouri and N.
Santa Fe Sts., stands with a display of French field pieces in front of
the American Legion Home. This old piece first came into prominence
during the Battle of Val Verde in the Civil War, was buried for some
unrecorded reason, accidentally plowed up by a farmer and taken to
El Paso. The McGinty Club, whose sole objective was levity, appro
priated the cannon about 1889 and used it in sham battles and torch
light parades. The club derived its name from a song then current,
"Down Went McGinty to the Bottom of the Sea." When the club
ceased to exist the gun remained on exhibition in San Jacinto Plaza
until the Madero uprising in Mexico when it was seized by El Paso
sympathizers of the rebels, and eventually found its way to Santa
Rosalia, where the rebels were besieging the federal garrison. After
the fall of Juarez the cannon was returned by General Pascual Orozco.
6. The SCOTTISH RITE CATHEDRAL (open 8-10 workdays,
8-6 Sun., holidays), W. Missouri and N. Santa Fe Sts., designed by
Herbert M. Greene, is a reproduction in brick and terra-cotta of the
Pan-American Building in Washington. Pieces of furniture and other
articles are mementos of pioneer Masonic activities dating back to 1854,
presented to the lodge by Albert Pike.
7. ENGINE NO. 1, on a small plot of lawn near the railroad tracks
on the south side of Franklin St., between N. Kansas and N. Stanton
25O TEXAS
Sts., was the first locomotive owned by the El Paso and Southwestern
Railroad. It was retired from service in 1905.
8. The SITE OF THE SOUTHERN OVERLAND MAIL
STAGE STATION is on the SE. corner of Overland and S. El Paso
Sts. This block was covered by the station and its stables, in 1857-
1861.
9. The EL PASO COUNTY COURTHOUSE occupies the block
bounded by San Antonio, Overland, S. Campbell and S. Kansas Sts.
The six-story $1,000,000 structure is of brick, in classic style, designed
by Trost and Trost of El Paso. The courthouse lobby contains a group
of six murals by T. J. Kittelsen, depicting important scenes in the his
tory of El Paso and the Southwest. Abutting the main structure in
the rear is LIBERTY HALL, the city s largest auditorium.
10. The FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTHOUSE, on the block
bounded by San Antonio, Myrtle, N. Campbell and N. Kansas Sts., is
a three-story white limestone structure in modern classic style, designed
by McGhee, Frazier and Lippincott. Erected in 1936, it cost $653,000.
In the lobby a mural by Tom Lea, Jr., shows a group of characters
typical of El Paso s history.
11. The 125-foot LOOKOUT TOWER, at the foot of S. El Paso
St. on the north bank of the river, highest of nine steel towers set at
strategic points along the Rio Grande, stands by Camp Chigas, home of
the Border Patrol. The towers are equipped with short wave sending
apparatus used effectively to prevent smuggling and illegal entry of
aliens.
12. STANTON STREET BRIDGE (toll 20$ a car for round trip;
pedestrians 2$; Juarez streetcar, 6^), is at the foot of S. Stanton St.
Tolls are paid for vehicles and pedestrians as they enter the concrete
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
EL PASO DOWNTOWN. Points of Interest
1. San Jacinto Plaza
2. Site of Juan Maria Ponce de Leon Home
3. Carnegie Square
4. Hugo Meyer Recreational Center
5. McGinty Cannon
6. Scottish Rite Cathedral
7. Engine No. I
8. Site of The Southern Overland Mail Stage Station
9. El Paso County Courthouse
10. Federal District Courthouse
11. Lookout Tower
12. Stanton Street Bridge
\ \
8Q?To: Las Cruces
EL PASO
DOWNTOWN
1940
LEGEND
U.S. Highways
Connecting Streets
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
Alamogordo]54
Carlsbad CaverngJ
Dallas
252 TEXAS
bridge span. Mexican immigration officers halt all cars at the southern
end; the sign Alto (stop) must be obeyed. No passports are required
for one-day visitors to Juarez. Customs inspectors usually examine
parcels and baggage for dutiable goods. Foodstuffs and drygoods in
small quantities are passed duty free. Return traffic is routed over the
Santa Fe Bridge (Avenida Juarez).
13. The TEXAS COLLEGE OF MINES AND METALLURGY,
W. end of College Ave., occupies a 38-acre campus in the foothills of
Mount Franklin west of US 80. The four main buildings were erected
in 19175 Henry C. Trost, architect. Rock was blasted from the moun
tainside to make way for the foundations of each unit, the limestone thus
obtained serving as the principal building material.
All 15 buildings are of Bhutanese architecture, copied from an an
cient Thibetan monastery and fort at Grag-Gye-Jong, on the southern
slopes of the Himalayan Mountains. The walls are plastered outside
in a rich cream stucco, with a frieze of brick and tile in bright colors a
few feet below the eaves. The roofs are low-pitched, covered with red
crushed brick, and project far out from the walls. The outside walls
are battered, sloping inward toward the roof.
Courses in mining and metallurgy were discontinued by the Uni
versity of Texas in 1911. El Paso, center of mining interests in west
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, with several large mines just beyond
the Mexican border, and with a custom smelter said to be the largest
in the world, made a successful bid for the University s School of
Mines. Since 1923 a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineer
ing has beeti offered. A Bachelor of Arts degree has been conferred
since 1932. Total registration for 1939 was 1,045 students.
The TEXAS CENTENNIAL MUSEUM (open 2-5 Tues., Thurs., Sat. f
Sun., free}, on the south edge of the campus, was completed in 1937,
Perry McGhee, architect, and follows the general design of the school
buildings. It is two stories high, housing a permanent collection of
minerals and ores, paleontological and archeological exhibits, and bo
tanical collections.
14. HART S MILL is 1.5 m. NW. on the north bank of the Rio
Grande, left of the intersection of highways at the viaduct, Broken
adobe walls, part of the dam and the great wall and stone arch through
which the water entered to turn the wheel are still visible. The mill
was built about 1850 by Simeon Hart, who utilized an ancient dam, of
unknown origin, estimated to have been built nearly two centuries
earlier. The mill, rebuilt in 1856, ground corn and wheat for a large
area until the late i88o s, while Hart s homestead (a large adobe brick
house still standing at the west end of the viaduct) became known as a
center of hospitality.
15. The MAGOFFIN HOUSE (private), Octavia St. between
Magoffin Ave. and San Antonio St., designed in 1875 by Joseph Ma-
goffin, is an. example of early-day El Paso dwellings. The one-story
adobe building surrounds an open patio 60 by 40 feet; the outside walls
are four feet thick and 15 feet high, with a frontage of 100 feet. In-
EL PASO 253
terior dividing walls are also of adobe, two feet thick. The roof is
flat and invisible from the street. Windows are set low, with a flat
gable-like lintel above and green shutters opening outward from the
center. A wide corridor leads to the patio from the front door, which
also shows the gabled lintel. All ceilings are formed of squared timbers,
and each room has a large fireplace.
1 6. FORT BLISS (open), NE. end of Pershing Drive, the largest
cavalry post in the United States, adjoins El Paso on the northeast city
limits. The older two-story buildings are constructed of red brick with
wooden trim. The military reservation, including parade grounds and
polo fields, covers 6,000 acres. Fort Bliss has a garrison of 158 officers
and 3,027 enlisted men. It was named in 1854 in honor of William
Wallace Smith Bliss, Chief of Staff to General Zachary Taylor in the
Mexican War. The first permanent quarters were built on the second
site occupied by Fort Bliss near Concordia Cemetery, but the post was
twice removed after that because of floods. The present site was occu
pied in 1893, n a m gh flat called La Noria Mesa. During the border
disorders of 1915 Victoriano Huerta, former President of Mexico, was
imprisoned for a time in Fort Bliss, and later died in El Paso. The fort
was an important mobilization point in the Pershing Punitive Expedi
tion of 1916. During the Mexican border troubles of 1916-17 there
were 60,000 troops under training here.
In the northwest corner of the military reservation is the WILLIAM
BEAUMONT GENERAL HOSPITAL (visitors 2-4 p.m., daily). The nu
merous buildings occupy 128 landscaped acres, have 600 beds and all
modern facilities. There are a total of 354 medical officers, nurses,
and employees. A new National Cemetery is in the northeast corner
of the reservation.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
McKelligon Canyon Park, 7 in.; Mission de Corpus Christ! de la Ysleta
del Sur, 12.5 m.; Mission de la Purisima Conception del Socorro, 15.2 m.;
Capilla de San Elizario, 24 m. (see Tour 19f) ; Hueco Tanks, 2S m. (see
Tour 29}.
Key to Map on the Following Two Pages.
EL PASO. Points of Interest
13. Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy
14. Hart s Mill
15. Magoffin House
1 6. Fort Bliss
EL PASO
1940
LEGEND
545 U.S. Highways
Connecting Streets
Railroads
Underpass
(J6) Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
Scale
1000
TO:
Las Cruces
MEMORIAL^
JUAREZ
WASHINGTON
"PARK
Swimming
To:
Dallas
Austin
San Antonio
256 TEXAS
Juarez, Mexico
Juarez, State of Chihuahua, Mexico (3,800 alt., 39,365 pop., 2^2
per cent Chinese), the ancient El Paso del Norte from which the Texas
city derived its name, has an important import and export trade, and
is a tourist amusement resort.
Twice Juarez has assumed national importance. In 1865 President
Benito Juarez, reformer and national hero, defeated by 30,000 French
troops of Maximilian, retired to El Paso del Norte, where he continued
to maintain his "capital" in the face of French occupation. In 1808
the town s name was changed to Juarez in his honor.
During the Diaz-Madero struggle, the Battle of Juarez and its
fall climaxed the seven-month revolt of Madero. On May 8, 191 1,
General Navarro and a federal garrison were in possession of Juarez,
when a rebel force attacked. By May 10 the federals, who had re
treated into their last stronghold, the barracks, were forced by a bom
bardment of rebel artillery to surrender. During the battle many
bullets fell in the streets of El Paso and several residents were killed.
A large part of Juarez was destroyed by shells and fire. This battle
ended the dictatorship of Diaz and marked the beginning of the Mexico
of today.
Most of the houses are built on the usual Mexican plan, with flat
roofs. In poorer homes mud and thatch or reeds do for covering, but
space is always provided for a garden; even crowded quarters have at
least a few flowering vines.
The amusement lanes, two streets leading from the international
bridges, and the main street, Calle (street) 16 de Septiembre, are
marked by brilliant neon signs and the blare of jazz music. Here are
found all the border city attractions: cabarets, saloons, night clubs,
curio shops, and eating places, while just off these busy thoroughfares
are the cockpits where chicken fighting is as much a national pastime as
the bullfight is a holiday spectacle. The small section bounded by these
three central streets is the city s only foreign district, occupied by hun
dreds of Chinese.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE (toll 3$ a car, U. S. cur
rency; for automobiles, entry to United States only; pedestrian traffic
two ways: to Mexico, 2$, United States, /^), Avenida (avenue) Juarez
(Santa Fe St. in El Paso) serves El Paso-bound traffic, although pe
destrians are permitted to cross both ways. The bridge is open 24
hours a day (1940), subject to change. Drive carefully. Cars are re
quired to come to a complete stop at the sign Alto (stop) where Mex
ican immigration officers inspect automobile permits and tourist cards.
A second stop is made on the United States end of the bridge, where
customs inspectors and immigration officers inspect luggage for dutiable
merchandise.
EL PASO 257
La PLAZA DE TOROS (inspection workdays free), the Bull
Ring, N. side of Calle Abraham Gonzales, midway between Aves.
Lerdo Norte and Juarez, has a seating capacity of 5,000 persons. The
building was used as a fortress during the Battle of Juarez (1911) when
the rebels were picked off by Diaz sharpshooters as they tried to scale
the walls. Bullet nicks are visible.
La ADUANA FRONTERIZA, or Custom House (open 8:30-
12 m., 2:30-5:30 Mon.-Fri., 8:30-2 Sat.), SE. corner Calle 16 de Sep-
tiembre and Ave. Juarez, is one of the older civic buildings. A fort-
like appearance is given by towers which rise at each corner and over the
main entrance on Calle 16 de Septiembre. Here United States Presi
dent William Howard Taft and Mexico s President Porfirio Diaz,
met when El Paso and Juarez entertained the two in 1909. A state
dinner was served on the gold plates of Emperor Maximilian of Mex
ico. A short while later (1911) in front of the building, the peace
treaty between Diaz and Madero was signed.
MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE DE EL
PASO (open daily, except from 11-1:30; guides optional], SW. corner
Calle 1 6 de Septiembre and Calle Nicolas Bravo, was founded on De
cember 8, 1659, for the conversion of the Mansos, and the church com
pleted in 1668. This mission became the nucleus for the settlements at
the Pass. The church has undergone little change. A high wall sur
rounds it on three sides. In front is an ancient cemetery.
All walls are 56 inches thick, made of adobe bricks and plastered
inside and out. The single bell tower is of Moorish architecture. The
roof is flat, and was at first covered with more than three feet of earth,
but now is roofed with modern material.
The ceiling is of hardwood beams and perfectly matched saplings,
the beams intricately carved in a deeply cut diagonal design, and sup
ported at the ends by graceful carved brackets. The spaces between the
beams are filled with small, round polished saplings, set at a slant, alter
nating right and left in each succeeding space.
Until about 25 years ago the church had no pews, worshipers bring
ing in sarapes, cushions, or small stools on which to sit during services.
Apart from the added pews the interior is the same as it was when all
worshipers were Indians, and each missionary had to keep a bodyguard
to prevent his charges from carrying him into the mountains.
MERCADO CUAUHTEMOC (open 7-7 dally), SE. corner Ave.
Vicente Guerrero and Calle Mariscal, official public market, is usually
crowded with buyers and sellers of foodstuffs, household necessities,
and transportable bric-a-bric. The market is a large stucco building,
almost hidden behind shops of many descriptions, its narrow sidewalks
cluttered with small stands that make passage difficult. Every inch of
the dark interior is utilized, the stalls placed close together on narrow
passageways which weave in and out in all directions.
Fort Worth
Railroad Stations: T. & P. Terminal, Throckmorton St. and W. Lancaster
Ave., for Texas & Pacific Ry., Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines, Missouri Pacific
Lines, Fort Worth & Denver City Ry., and Burlington-Rock Island R.R. ; Union
Depot, E. i5th and Jones Sts., for Santa Fe, Southern Pacific Lines, and Chi
cago, Rock Island & Gulf Ry.
Bus Stations: Union Bus Terminal, 905 Commerce St., for Southwestern
Greyhound Lines, Bowen Motor Coaches, Texas Motor Coaches, Inc., Central
Texas Bus Lines and Dixie Trailways ; 116 E. 8th St. for All American Bus
Lines, Inc.
Airport: Meacham Field, 6 m. N. on US 81, for American Airlines, Inc.,
Delta Air Lines, and Braniff Airways, Inc.; taxi $i ; Bowen Motor Coaches
pass airport 4 times daily, fare 20$, time 20 min.
City Busses: Fare ictf, 3 tokens for 2^.
Taxis: Fare 25$ for first 1.5 m., 10^ each additional 0.5 m.
Traffic Regulations: Right turns on red lights, after complete stop; left turns
on all green lights unless sign above light forbids.
Accommodations: 8 hotels for whites, i for Negroes; tourist lodges and auto
camps, with wide range of rates.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 114 E. 8th St.; Southwest Motor
Club (American Automobile Association), in E. gth St.
Radio Stations: KFJZ (1240 kc.) ; WBAP (800 kc.) ; KGKO (570 kc.).
Athletics: T.C.U. Stadium, 2900 Stadium Dr., college football, baseball, track
events and other sports.
Baseball: La Grave Field, NE. yth and N. Jones Sts., Texas League.
Golf: Worth Hills, W. Berry St. at Stadium Dr., 18 holes, 25^ for 9 holes,
50^ all day; Meadowbrook Recreation Center, 1701 Wallis Ave., 18 holes, 25^
for 9 holes, 50^ all day; Rockwood Golf Course, Rockwood Park, 2 m. NW. on
Jacksboro Highway, on the Trinity River, 18 holes, 25^ for 9 holes, 50^ all day;
Z. Boaz, Z. Boaz Park, 8.5 m. NW. of city on US 80, 4 courses, 25^ for 9 holes,
50^ all day; Sycamore Golf Course, 2423 Vickery Blvd., 9 holes, 25^; Ridglea
Championship Course, 6401 Ridglea Ave., 18 holes, 25^ for 9 holes, 50^ all day;
Katy Lake Golf Course, 409 Bolt Ave., 9 holes 25^, 50^ all day.
Swimming: Lake Worth, 9 m. NW. on State 199, free; Eagle Mountain
Lake, 5.5 m. beyond Lake Worth on State 199, free; 5 municipal pools in parks,
ro and 20^.
Tennis: 38 courts in public parks, free.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium, 3405 W. Lan
caster Ave. and Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave.
(both in Texas Frontier Centennial Park), for local productions, concerts and
road shows; 10 motion picture houses, 7 largest occasionally have vaudeville
and local productions.
Annual Events: Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, opens second
Fri. in Mar. (9 days) ; Casa Manana, opens in July for lo-week season, Texas
Frontier Centennial Park, 3100-3600 W. Lancaster Ave.
FORT WORTH (670 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 163,447; est.
pop. 1940, 180,000), the fourth largest city in the State, is on the
258
FORT WORTH 259
Trinity River, in the north central part of Texas. It is as thoroughly
representative of the Southwest as a long-horned steer. Its metro
politan aspects towering business buildings, noisy traffic vividly ex
emplify the modern city; but its people typify the spirit and atmosphere
of the Old West.
More than 80 per cent of Fort Worth s population is native Amer
ican. Many of them are descendants of the wiry pioneers of the plains
country. Yet for all its speed and activity, Fort Worth is one of the
State s most hospitable cities. There is still time for a cordial "Howdy,
stranger," and a nice disregard of the city s uproar in the easy pause for
conversation that is definitely reminiscent of the top rail of a corral
fence, with boot heels hooked for balance and plenty of time for talk.
According to the line at the masthead of the Star-Telegram, Fort
Worth is "where the West begins," and a noticeable difference exists
in the character of soil and vegetation east and west of the city. To the
east is the Grand Prairie, with rich soil, orchards, nurseries, and truck
gardens; to the west the beginning of the North Central Plains, rolling
and treeless.
Striking evidence of the rapid transition of the city from village to
metropolis is apparent everywhere. Older and smaller business build
ings are being rapidly replaced by tall structures with straight, clean
lines, visible for miles from the city. Stately Victorian residences, once
in the suburbs, are now within a stone s throw of the business district,
and most of them are boarding and rooming houses. Old or new, how
ever, the buildings are clean. Fort Worth uses natural gas as fuel and,
although it is an industrial city, is almost smokeless. Slum clearance
has been inaugurated through two housing projects completed in 1940
at a cost of $2,250,000. One for white families occupies 21^/2 acres,
bounded by Taylor, Belknap, Henderson and Franklin Streets, and con
sists of 30 two-story fireproof houses. The other, for Negroes, is on
20 l /2 acres between Luella, Crump, Water and East Nineteenth Streets.
Until recent years, local architecture followed the individual ideas
of builders. In 1925 the council-manager form of government was
adopted and a city plan developed that tended to correct the irregular
development of the earlier period. In the main this is a city of home
owners, apartment houses being comparatively few.
Fort Worth is the concentration center for the livestock industry
of the Southwest. Its stockyards, covering 253 acres, are the largest
south of St. Louis. Its oil interests are of gigantic proportions. The
city contains the offices of more than 600 oil companies, independent
operators, drillers, and others identified with this industry. It is the
largest inland refining center in the State. A network of pipe lines, the
largest system in the world, conducts crude oil from the fields to the
city s refineries, which represent an investment of $15,000,000, with
an annual production in excess of $18,000,000. Close behind the pe
troleum industry in importance are the metal working plants, which
produce steel bars, plates, reinforcing and structural steel, water and oil-
drilling tools and rigs. The city has a grain storage capacity of more
260 TEXAS
than 15,000,000 bushels, and is the terminal grain market of the South
west, drawing shipments from Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas,
and Colorado. The annual value of these products is quoted at $20,-
000,000.
Rather oddly, Fort Worth was never a fort. Originally it was a
camp where, in 1849, Brevet Major R. A. Arnold and a troop of
dragoons kept a watchful eye on the Indians. The camp was named
Fort Worth in honor of General William Jenkins Worth, Mexican
War hero. After the Civil War, when the cattle drives trailed up
through the little community, it became an important trading and
supply center. By 1866 educational facilities were urgently needed, so
its citizens bought a wagonload of flour which they traded for lumber,
to convert the Masonic Hall into a school building.
In 1870, when it became apparent that a railroad might soon reach
the settlement, Fort Worth enjoyed rapid growth. It was incorporated
in 1873. That same year, with the railroad as near as Eagle Ford,
26 miles distant, land values boomed and the population was more than
5,000. Then came the "Panic of 73," with the failure of Jay Cooke
& Co., which held most of the liens against the new railroad, the Texas
and Pacific, and also against much property in Fort Worth.
That blow immediately sifted the weak-hearted from the community.
A majority of the new residents headed east and the population fell
below 1,000. During the hegira a young lawyer wrote a letter to the
Dallas Herald asserting that Fort Worth was so dead he had seen a
panther lying asleep and unmolested in the main street.
The thousand stalwarts who remained greeted that calumny with
hoots of derision. The fire department bought a panther cub for a
mascot. Local clubs attached the name "Panther" to their former
titles, and the "Panther City" was born.
The Panthers sharpened their claws. They wanted a railroad, and
a railroad they would have if, as a local resident declared, "every bank
and peanut stand in the entire East failed." They offered to grade the
remaining 26 miles of unfinished roadbed in exchange for a lien on the
road. The Texas and Pacific agreed and the Panthers set out to help
complete the moribund railway before the land grant subsidy given by
the legislature should expire. In 1876 the situation developed into a
race against time. The road had to be completed before the legislature
adjourned and adjournment day was near.
Meanwhile, Fort Worth scratched gravel. Every business house
operated with the barest minimum of workers and sent the bulk of its
men to the railroad right-of-way to wield pick and shovel. The women
of the city worked in relays, preparing hot coffee and food, and feeding
and watering the mules. The legislature remained in session until the
road was completed, and on July 19, 1876, the first train into Fort
Worth stopped at what is now Boaz Street and Lancaster Avenue, its
whistle cord tied down and the editor of the local newspaper frantically
shoving fuel into the firebox to keep the steam whistle going.
FORT WORTH 26 1
That was the beginning of the city s present network of nine trunk
line railroads.
During the construction of its first rail line, and for some time
thereafter, Fort Worth was a typical frontier town. Gamblers, cattle
men, and all types of characters familiar to the Old West thronged the
city. A bit of unusual excitement was provided when the Comanche
chiefs, Yellow Bear and Quanah Parker, the latter famous for his raids
against the whites, visited town and went to bed after blowing out the
gas. Yellow Bear never awakened, but Quanah Parker recovered and
lived to become a friend of his former enemies.
By 1875 citizens of Fort Worth had sensed the value of capitalizing
the city s strategic location as the market place of a great southwestern
empire of cattle and cattlemen. They organized a meat packing com
pany and built the first stockyards in Fort Worth. A quarter century
later Swift & Company, Armour & Company, and Libby, McNeill &
Libby entered the field, and by 1902 those companies had completed a
group of packing houses in Niles City, then on the outskirts of Fort
Worth. Their presence attracted allied industries, and during the
decade that followed, the population jumped from 26,688 to 73,312.
In 1909 fire ravaged 20 blocks. Failure of the artesian water
supply was largely responsible for the disaster, and shortly afterward the
city conceived the idea of building Lake Worth, nine miles northwest.
The World War wrote a new chapter in the story of Fort Worth,
with the establishment of Camp Bowie within the city and of several
flying fields in its immediate vicinity. Little remains of any of the
military camps and fields, the site of Camp Bowie now being virtually
filled with residences.
Oil was discovered in 1912 at Burkburnett, 125 miles northward,
and immediately after the World War, the Ranger field, 100 miles
westward, was brought in. Oil men of all descriptions flocked to Fort
Worth, as the most convenient center of the new oil territory. Oil
companies, promotion companies, wildcatters and every form of enter
prise identified with oil activities sprang up and flourished.
Postal inspectors began to eye promotional literature and other mail
with suspicion. Scores of indictments were returned against the pro
moters, resulting in many convictions. For years, or until proration
and shut-in fields began to curtail the promotion schemes, this remained
the "wildcat" center of the world.
Fort Worth s financial structure, however, is not limited to any of
the several major industries on which its commerce is founded. Much
of its retail trade centers around the needs of cattlemen. For example,
there are specialty shops and workshops of expert craftsmen dealing in
cowboy hats, boots, saddles, lariats, guns, and articles of clothing de
manded by the cowhands, both regular and dude.
In 1936 the Mental Hygiene Division of the United States Public
Health Service opened a new hospital on the Old Mansfield Road, about
six miles southeast of Fort Worth. Formerly called the United States
Narcotic Farm, the United States Public Health Service Hospital con-
262 TEXAS
sists of two main groups of buildings and a 1,385-acre farm that repre
sent an investment of $4,000,000. The estimated annual cost of
maintenance, exclusive of the farm and of various vocational shops that
make the institution partly self-sustaining, averages $600,000. There
is a staff of 240, including psychiatrists.
An outstanding institution is the Masonic Home and School, which
occupies 212 acres on the southeast edge of the city. It was built at a
cost of over a million dollars, provides a home for a yearly average of
400 orphaned children of Masons, and affords elementary, high school,
business and vocational training.
In art, music, and literature, Fort Worth inherits little of its own
past. Its architecture, with few exceptions, is purely utilitarian ; its
buildings are virtually the same as those found in all busy American
cities. Since 1934 more than $10,000,000 has been spent on public
school buildings, grounds, and equipment. In 1939 a $500,000 city
hall and the $400,000 Fort Worth Public Library were built. The
seat of Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan College, and South
western Baptist Theological Seminary, the city has developed, in addi
tion to educational institutions, an important circle of writers and
artists.
Among the writers was Colonel Louis J. Wortham, author of a
history of Texas in five volumes. More than a dozen noted artists
claim Fort Worth as their native city.
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is a well developed musical
organization that has given concerts for more than a decade. The
Civic Music Association presents a series of concerts annually. There
are numerous choral organizations, and schools of music in each of the
major educational institutions.
The 22,334 Negroes of Fort Worth have developed a social culture
and commercial activity which, to a considerable extent, is centered in
the large Negro Masonic Temple and the Fraternal Bank and Trust
Company, both of which owe much of their importance to an able
Negro leader, William M. McDonald, who rose through his own
efforts to financial and political prominence.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. The SITE OF FORT WORTH, NW. corner Houston and Bel-
knap Sts., is marked by a bronze plaque in the southeast corner of the
grounds of the Criminal Courts Building.
2. The FIRST METHODIST CHURCH (open daily}, 800 W.
5th St., has a million-dollar group of buildings covering most of a city
block, and includes, besides the church proper, structures housing a
banquet hall, recreation rooms, and the church offices. Of modified
Gothic design, all in cream, W. G. Clarkson and Company, architects,
the church is topped by twin towers that house a set of 16 cylinder
chimes.
FORT WORTH 263
3. The W. I. COOK MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (visiting hours
2-4, 8-10 p-rn.), 1 212 W. Lancaster Ave., W. G. Clarkson and Com
pany, architects, was built and endowed by Mrs. W. I. Cook as a
memorial to her husband and daughter. The discovery of oil on a west
Texas ranch enabled her to realize her ambition to build a perfectly
equipped hospital for the benefit of needy women. It is built in Italian
Renaissance style, of Indiana limestone, with a green tile roof. The
reception room has Italian travertine walls, with heavy walnut beams
across a gold-leaf ceiling; its quiet beauty is the motif of the building.
4. The MASONIC TEMPLE (open 1-4 Tues., Wed., Thurs.), noi
5. Henderson St., is of neoclassic design, built of Indiana limestone,
with the interior of travertine marble. W. G. Clarkson and Company
were the architects. The building is on the crest of a rolling hill, its
central unit of seven stories flanked by two-story wings. The central
portals of polished steel form a triptych, each panel bearing the etched
figure of an ancient Master of Masonry.
5. The FORT WORTH PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9 workdays,
2-6 p.m. Sun.), NE. corner of Throckmorton and 9th Sts., a three-story
building completed in 1939, embodies a modern interpretation of classic
design, with a base of granite facing and Indiana limestone, and Texas
Leuders stone exterior above. The prevailing simplicity of treatment
is relieved by a two-story window on the entrance facade and by a
cornice ornament. The new $400,000 structure, designed by Joseph R.
Pelich, is on the site of the first building, opened in 1902 and built with
the assistance of a Carnegie endowment. In 1940 the library had
124,000 volumes, 50,000 pamphlets, 12,000 volumes of periodicals, and
received 18 current newspapers.
The FORT WORTH ART MUSEUM (open library hours), third floor,
is maintained by the Fort Worth Art Association, organized in 1910,
and started with the purchase of Mariana Point, by Paul Dougherty.
The museum s permanent collection of 75 paintings includes sketches,
water colors, etchings and other art forms. Three annual exhibitions
are held : one in January for American artists, one in May restricted to
Texans, and one with no fixed date limited to residents of Tarrant
County. The latter is a sidewalk display, when Ninth Street is given
over to the exhibitors.
6. The UNITED STATES POST OFFICE, SE. corner Jennings
and W. Lancaster Aves., designed in the classic Greek manner by
Wyatt C. Hedrick, architect, was completed in 1933 at a cost of
$I,O5O,OOO. The light gray outside walls are of Cordova limestone,
with 1 6 four-foot Corinthian columns capped by Grecian spans of Bed
ford limestone between the entrances. Steps and foundation trim are
of Texas granite, and a seven-foot wall encloses a light-well in front of
the building. Emblems of the United States are on bronze medallions
at each end of the structure. At each north entrance foyer are four
2O-foot columns of green Grecian marble. Floors also are of marble.
The corridor is 260 feet by 22 feet, lined on both sides by offices and
service windows. The walls are tan, marble-lined to a height of eight
FORT WORTH 265
feet, and above that is a bronze grille with an American eagle perched
between the United States Shield and the Texas Star. The frieze on
both sides carries the same motif and the ornamental plaster ceiling is
richly decorated with gold leaf and bright colors.
The RAILWAY TERMINAL POST OFFICE (visited by arrangement},
on the second floor, houses the headquarters offices of the. Eleventh
Division of Railway Mail Service, which serves Texas, Oklahoma and
New Mexico, and some sections of Colorado and Arizona.
7. The TEXAS AND PACIFIC PASSENGER STATION, W.
Lancaster Ave. from Main to Throckmorton Sts., was designed accord
ing to the ideas of J. L. Lancaster, president of the road. The designer
was H. P. Koeppe, the architect, Wyatt C. Hedrick. The station, of
modern design, is 13 stories high, with a base of brown polished granite,
limestone in the first section, and the upper stories of gray rough-
textured brick. On each corner are lo-foot towers on the outside faces
of which futuristic eagles have been carved.
8. The STOCKYARDS, N. Main St. and Exchange Ave., covers an
area of 253 acres lying between 23d and 28th Sts. At the right as the
area is entered, is the Coliseum, where the Southwestern Exposition and
Fat Stock Show is held annually in March. Beside it is the Livestock
Exchange Building, in which are offices of the Fort Worth Stock Yards
Company, cattle commission houses and railroad freight agents. Both
buildings are of Spanish architecture.
9. The ARMOUR & COMPANY PLANT (open Tues.-Fri; free
hourly tours Q-II, 1:30-3:30), E. end of Exchange Ave., is at the left
of an open area that separates the Swift and the Armour plants. Archi
tecture of both plants is industrial, the office buildings being of modified
southern plantation type, designed by the engineering staffs of the
respective companies. The Armour plant covers 24 acres and has 15
main buildings, 40 in all.
From the administration building tours are conducted through the
immense dock where 30 refrigerator cars can be iced and loaded. The
cooler engine room maintains 500 tons of refrigeration an hour; in the
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
FORT WORTH DOWNTOWN. Points of Interest
1. Site of Fort Worth
2. First Methodist Church
3. W. I. Cook Memorial Hospital
4. Masonic Temple
5. Fort Worth Public Library
6. United States Post Office
7. Texas and Pacific Passenger Station
266 TEXAS
cattle-killing plant animals are disposed of at the rate of 108 an hour.
The side line plant manufactures soap and similar products. In the
smokehouse six floors of ovens contain hams and bacon, all receiving
hardwood sawdust smoke from a fire that burns continuously.
10. The SWIFT & COMPANY PLANT (open; free hourly tours
9-12, half-hourly 12:30-2:30, Mon.-Fri.), E. end of Exchange Ave.,
occupies 26 buildings in an area of 43 acres. Production processes are
similar to those in the Armour plant.
11. PIONEERS REST, Samuels Ave. and Cold Springs Rd., is a
cemetery of historic interest, its roster of graves containing the names
of those who were most active in the early life of the city. Markers
show that burials were made as early as 1850. Here are graves of
Major Ripley Arnold, and General Edward H. Tarrant, for whom the
county was named.
12. TRINITY PARK AND BOTANIC GARDENS, 2200 block
W. 7th St., has a broad drive which follows the winding Clear Fork of
the Trinity River through the park. The FORT WORTH GARDEN
CENTER, 1 m. S. of the entrance, marks the beginning of the Botanic
Gardens. The Center, said to be the first institution of its kind estab
lished in an American scientific garden, occupies the new Horticultural
Building, a structure of rough-hewn slabs of Palo Pinto stone. It was
designed by Hubert H. Hare in early Texas architecture. The com
bined office, library, and reception room has a flagstone floor and pioneer
furnishings. The main objectives of the Center are the encouragement
of gardening and to provide a suitable environment for the study of
natural sciences. It is under the joint sponsorship of the Fort Worth
Garden Club and the Fort Worth Board of Education. The ALBERT
RUTH HERBARIUM (open 10-4 daily), in Garden Center, of more
than 8,500 specimens, many of them rare, is the leading collection of
scientifically classified dried plants in the Southwest. That part de
voted to Texas contains more than 1,000 native plants. An instructor
is available to show and explain the collection. The herbarium is the
work of Professor Albert Ruth, who died in 1932. He was the dis
coverer of six plants, which have been named for him.
13. TEXAS FRONTIER CENTENNIAL PARK (open daily),
3100-3600 W. Lancaster Ave., covers 147 landscaped acres. Near the
center rises the 2io-foot PIONEER MEMORIAL TOWER, dedicated to
Texas pioneers. West of the tower is the MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM
(open by arrangement}, which seats 3,000 persons. A lO-foot tile
mosaic across the front wall presents the "History of the Settlement and
Development of the West." To the east is the WILL ROGERS MEMO
RIAL COLISEUM (open by arrangement}, with a maximum seating
capacity of 10,000. The tower, auditorium, and coliseum are designed
in the neoclassic style, faced with cream, rough-textured brick, and
trimmed in ivory limestone, Wyatt C. Hedrick and Elmer G. Withers,
architects.
At the east edge of the park is CASA MANANA (open in July for
lO-week season}, a cafe-theater seating 3,000 persons. It is designed in
FORT \V O R T H 267
modified Spanish style. Adjacent is the PIONEER PALACE (open in July
for 10-week season}, a wedge-shaped structure built to resemble a
pioneer saloon. The walls cf this cafe-bar, which seats 1,000, are
decorated with Texas cattle brands. Albert Johnson was the architect
for both buildings.
14. FOREST PARK, 1800 Forest Park Blvd, of 195 acres, is the best
equipped of three key park areas in the city. Facilities include picnic
grounds, softball diamonds and tennis courts. In the southwest corner
is the MUNICIPAL Zoo, started in 1910 when the park department
acquired a sacred cow and a few other animals; the zoo now has about
800 specimens. Improvements include a monkey island, alligator pool,
aviary, waterfowl cage and animal hospital. The chief pride of the
children is Queen Tut, an elephant, purchased with their pennies in
1922.
15. TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, University Drive be
tween Canty and Tomlinson Sts., occupies a i5O-acre campus on rolling
prairie land. Its buildings, all constructed of cream-colored brick in
modified classic design, are set amid artistic landscaping. The buildings,
grounds and equipment represent an investment of more than $2,200,-
ooo. Architects were M. L. Waller, Van Slyke & Woodruff, Sanguinet
& Staats, W. G. Clarkson and Company and Wyatt C. Hedrick.
Texas Christian University is co-educational, privately endowed, and
controlled by the Texas Christian Conference, and it has trained many
ministers and missionaries of the Christian denomination. Although a
denominational school, it is nonsectarian in character. With an average
enrollment of approximately 1,000 students, its athletic teams have
gained national fame, particularly in football. Former T.C.U. athletes
are coaching college and school football teams in many sections of the
country.
The university was founded in 1873 at Thorp Spring by two
brothers, Addison and Randolph Clark, by whom it was named Add-
Ran College. In 1895 tne university acquired the property of the Waco
Female College, and moved to that city, changing its name in 1902 to
Texas Christian University. In 1910, following a disastrous fire, the
university moved to its present site, accepting a gift from the City of
Fort Worth of a 56-acre campus and $200,000. In 1923, its fiftieth
anniversary, the university launched a campaign for funds and acquired
a heavy endowment which enabled it to advance rapidly to its present
position of prominence among Southwestern institutions of learning.
The MARY COUTS BURNETT LIBRARY (open 7:45-5:30 workdays),
has space for 200,000 volumes, and a seating space for 150 students.
It contains approximately 45,000 bound volumes, 18,000 United States
public documents and 5,000 bound volumes of magazines and periodicals.
There is a collection of old and rare Bibles, among which is a Latin
Bible printed by Nicholas Kesler, at Basel, Switzerland, in 1491.
CLARK HALL (open 8-5 workdays), has in its basement the museum
of the biological and geological departments of the university. Among
the collections is one showing Cretaceous fossils found in north-central
268 TEXAS
Texas, arranged by strata according to formations, typical Paleozoic
fossils, and various exhibits of flora and fauna.
1 6. SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMI
NARY, 1800 W. Gambrell St., occupies a 31 -acre campus on Seminary
Hill, overlooking the city. The buildings are a variation of a modified
Georgian style, Wyatt C. Hedrick, architect. It is managed by the
Southern Baptist Convention and has an average enrollment in excess
of 700 students.
The outgrowth of the Bible Department of Baylor University, the
seminary was moved to Fort Worth in 1910, when local Baptists
pledged $100,000 for the erection of a building and real estate men
offered land for the campus. The seminary opened in 1912 and in
1913 the Missionary Training School was added. In 1921 the Evangel
ism and Religious Education Departments were reorganized as schools
of Religious Education and Gospel Music. In 1924 the seminary offered
the degree of Th.D.
Its library contains approximately 20,000 volumes, including about
500 volumes of periodicals, the latter composed almost entirely of
southern and southwestern Baptist magazines, published since the early
days of the Republic of Texas.
The MISSIONARY MUSEUM (open 3-5 Tues. and Thurs.), second
floor of Fort Worth Hall, houses a collection gathered by missionaries
in all parts of the world. Native costumes, articles of dress, idols,
handicrafts, money and musical instruments, and paintings by Chinese
artists are features of the exhibits.
17. TEXAS WESLEYAN COLLEGE, Annis St. between Aves. B
and F, occupies the crest of Polytechnic Hill and is a co-educational
institution, supported by the Northwest Texas Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Its average enrollment is approximately
500 students.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
FORT WORTH. Points of Interest
8. Stockyards
9. Armour & Company Plant
10. Swift & Company Plant
11. Pioneers Rest
12. Trinity Park and Botanic Gardens
13. Texas Frontier Centennial Park
14. Forest Park
15. Texas Christian University
1 6. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
17. Texas Wesleyan College
1 8. American Rose Society Courtesy Garden
FORT WORTH
1940
LEGEND
.S.,State Highways
Connecting Streets
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
-JH^ Overpass-Underpass
1 Railroads " Golf
City Limits O Town
H? /Scale
To: ,
Sa n Antonio
27O TEXAS
The stone administration building is the central feature of an
attractively landscaped 4i-acre campus that slopes gently in all direc
tions. There are seven other buildings. An adaptation of modified
Georgian design is followed throughout. Most of the buildings are
fronted by columns, giving the setting a classic appearance. Architects
were Wyatt C. Hedrick, Sanguinet & Staats, H. W. Lusher and M. L.
Waller.
Polytechnic College, the forerunner of the present institution, was
established in 1890. Much help was given it by Mrs. Ann Waggoner,
widow of the north Texas cattle baron, Dan Waggoner ; in addition to
donating building funds, she left, on her death, an endowment of
$84,000 to be used by needy students.
In 1934 the institution, which had gained prominence through
training teachers for kindergarten work, was made co-educational. To
day its outstanding contribution is its music department, which has
trained many music teachers from all parts of Texas.
The LIBRARY (open 7:45-4:30 workdays), has a collection of 500
volumes of early editions of German history, textbooks and other works
by German scholars. It has also laid the foundation of a collection of
books on Texas history, legends, folklore, and fiction.
1 8. The AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY COURTESY GARDEN
(open 8 a.m.-n p.m. daily), 4501 E. Lancaster Ave., is used to test the
culture of roses for commercial purposes under southwestern climatic
conditions. The garden is supported by prizes and awards from the
American Rose Society.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Lake Worth, 9 m.; Eagle Mountain Lake, 14.5 m. (see Tour Sa).
Gafoeston
Railroad Station: Union Station, 123 Rosenberg Ave., for Missouri Pacific
Lines, Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines, Southern Pacific Lines, Gulf, Colorado
and Santa Fe Ry.
Bus Stations: 517 Center St. for Texas Bus Lines; 605 Center St. for Coastal
Coaches, Inc.
Airport: Galveston Municipal Airport, 5 m. W. on S Rd., for BranifF Airways,
Inc.; taxi 25^ (Braniff rate), time 15 min. ; complete facilities for servicing
aircraft day and night; charter service.
City Busses: Fare 7^, children 4^.
Taxis: Fare 25^ first 2 m., one passanger; 10^ each additional passenger; 5^
each additional 0.3 m. or fraction.
Ferry: To Point Bolivar, on State 87, E. of city, following signs on Seawall
Blvd.; fares 25^ a car; trailers 25^; six-wheel trucks 50^; pedestrians free.
Steamship Piers: Numbered according to street terminating at each pier,
for example, Pier 37 is at the foot of 37th St.; i line maintains passenger
service from this port (1940) to the West Indies.
Traffic Regulations: No U turns on Market, Postoffice, 2oth, 22d, 24th, Center
and Tremont Sts. ; i-hour parking meters in downtown area, 5^ except Sun.
and legal holidays; i-hour parking at 3O-degree angle in most other zones;
angle parking on Seawall Blvd. between igth and 2gth Sts., 2-hour limit,
12 noon to midnight.
Accommodations: 15 hotels; adequate tourist lodges, rooms, and auto camps;
trailer camps on beach.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 2209 Market St.; Galveston Auto
mobile Protective Association (American Automobile Association), Pabst Bldg.,
2^04 Strand; Galveston Beach Association, Murdoch s Pier, Tremont St. and
Seawall Blvd.
Radio Station: KLUF (1370 kc.).
Athletics: Municipal Auditorium, 802-14 26th St., wrestling and boxing
matches; Menard Park, 27th St. and Seawall Blvd., Lasker Playground, 42d
St. and Ave. Q, Adoue Park and Sherman Playground, roth and Winnie Sts.,
Wright Cuney Playground (for Negroes), 4Oth St. and Ave. H, volley ball,
softball, and basketball.
Swimming: Ramps from Seawall Blvd. gives access to East and West Beaches:
Lagoon Swimming Pool, E. end of Seawall, equipped for aquatic sports, free,
lifeguard during season; surf bathing anywhere on 32-mile beach, free; section
between 28th and 29th Sts. restricted to Negroes.
Excursion Boats: Leave Pier 18, 2 p.m. daily during summer for 25-mile
harbor trip, fare $i ; available for charter.
Fishing: Surf fishing on beach and jetties; Galveston County Free Fishing
Pier, i7th St. at beach. Boats leave Pier 18 for Sportsman s Pier, at end of
North Jetty, 5 a.m., 8 a.m., and i p.m., return at 12 noon and 6 p.m., $i
round trip a person. Deep-sea fishing cruisers leave Pier 22 for Heald Banks,
4:45 a.m., return 6 p.m., $6.50 a person; make reservations in advance; rods
and reels rented, $1.50, trolling lines 25^. Charter privilege.
Golf: Municipal course, 1 m. W. from 6ist St. on S Rd., R. 0.5 m. on gravel
road, 18 holes, 35^ before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m., 50^ 10-4, and Sat., Sun.,
and holidays; Country Club Golf Course, 6ist St. at West Beach, 18 holes, $i ;
Sat., Sun., and holidays, $2.
271
272 TEXAS
Tennis: Menard Park, 5 courts, and Lasker Playground, 2 courts, free except
when lighted for night playing, 25^ an hour; Kempner Park, 2jth St. and
Ave. O, 2 courts, free; Wright Cuney Playground, i court, free.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium, local produc
tions, concerts; Galveston Little Theater, 1801 Post office St., several produc
tions a season; 4 motion picture houses for whites, i for Negroes.
Annual Events: Mardi Gras, 5 days preceding Lent; Oleander Fete, floral
parade and festival, spring, date varies; Splash Day, opening of seaside resort
season, Apr. or May; Golf Tournament, Country Club, May; Fishing Rodeo,
open competition in Gulf fishing, June or July; Galveston Island Auxiliary Boat
Race, 60 miles parallel to beach, Aug.; Gulf Coast Tennis Tournament, ama
teurs, Menard Park, Aug.
GALVESTON (6 to 17 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 52,938; est.
pop. 1940, 60,000), occupies the eastern extremity of Galveston Island,
which is 30 miles long and two miles wide and lies nearly parallel to
the Texas mainland coast two miles distant, with which it is connected
by two vehicular causeways and a railroad bridge. A ship channel,
1,200 feet wide with a maximum depth of 34 feet, leads from the Gulf
of Mexico into a tranquil, landlocked harbor on the north side of the
city.
Seen from the wharves, the harbor, protected by artificial moles, is
alive with traffic from a hundred ports; grimy tramp steamers, sluggish,
wallowing oil tankers, trim passenger ships crowd the docks; bustling,
self-important tugs nose among the larger vessels, thrusting a fruit ship
out to sea, edging a steamer gingerly to dock. Here is one of the
largest cotton ports in the world, where thousands of men are employed
to load cotton for foreign destinations, and to handle the yellow cargoes
of sulphur and grain which compose a large proportion of the exports.
Heavy imports of bananas from the tropics, jute bagging from India,
and raw sugar from Cuba and elsewhere for refining in Texas, find
their way into the harbor. More than half a hundred coastwise and
foreign ship companies make Galveston a regular port of call.
Galveston s dock facilities provide berthing space for a hundred ships,
and ample water front storage space. Port officials assert that one-third
of the nation s cotton exports could be handled without congestion.
Across the channel, on a small sand bar called Pelican Spit, are the
drydocks and ship repairing plants of one of America s great ship build
ing companies.
Viewed from the air above the Gulf of Mexico, rippling waves wash
a smooth, wide, sandy beach, above which looms a solid gray wall of
tremendous proportions, grimly guarding the city against its old enemy,
the sea. Perched upon the formidable wall, and sloping toward the
bay, is the city, its tall buildings relatively few and not more than a
dozen stories in height, its residential and some of its business sections
thickly laced with long daubs of color made by a countless profusion of
oleanders Galveston is called the Oleander City poinsettias, bougain
villaea, and other subtropical plants. Without its characteristic masses
of flowers, its stately homes and beautiful parks, and the gay throngs
that people the beach and sea wall, Galveston from the Gulf would
GALVESTON 273
convey the impression of a powerful fortress, guarding its fine sheltered
harbor and vulnerable coast line from attack.
Laid out as rectangularly as a gridiron, by men who approved of
broad thoroughfares, the city is compact, its area unchanged since its
incorporation a century ago. Vacant lots are rare. Most spaces not
occupied by buildings are filled with flowering vegetation.
In the streets nearest the harbor are many narrow business buildings,
often with ornate fronts, that date from the days when all the activities
of the city were those of a seaport. Here and along the water front
surges a cosmopolitan company. Lascars from tramp steamships, Cor-
nishmen from blunt British freighters, sailors of every nationality the
city contains 27 foreign consulates mingle with those home folk whose
business takes them to the harbor side and with vacationists from every
section of the country.
Charming houses of classic beauty are in the older residential sec
tions, but more striking are unusual examples of self expression by
builders in the periods of maritime affluence before and after the Civil
War men who had been in many parts of the world before they
settled down to establish homes on the island, and who in designing
their mansions borrowed from and combined, to suit their tastes, almost
every conceivable type of architecture.
On the Gulf side is the beach and recreation center which, with the
facilities for fishing and boating, and the mild and equable climate, has
made Galveston a playground for tourists. Upon and just back of the
sea wall are dance pavilions, restaurants, cafes, night clubs, a huge
skating rink, a Ferris wheel, roller coaster and other amusement devices
for speed and excitement, curio shops, wheels of fortune, games, and an
almost continuous spirit of carnival.
A peculiar characteristic of much of the Galveston residence con
struction is the raised first floor; what ordinarily would be the ground
floor is a semi-basement, and the lower living floor of the house is six to
ten feet above the ground and reached by an outside stairway. This is
principally a survival of custom from the days when storms flooded
parts of Galveston, before the sea wall was built and the grade of the
island changed. Before the great storm of 1900, in no place did the
altitude reach nine feet. Since then the sea wall has been constructed,
17 feet high, and back from it a great part of the city has been raised
to slope gently from that level to the bay.
No visitor in the downtown area is likely to remain unconscious of
Galveston s three principal exports. On every hand are evidences of
cotton ; second today among United States ports in cotton shipments,
the city has fireproof space for two million bales, and has 15 high
density compresses. Seen from the bay, a section of the water front
has a distinctly yellowish cast; the bulk of the state s 2,ooo,ooo-ton
annual output of sulphur is shipped here. On the skyline loom grain
elevators ; one of them has room for the storage of 6,000,000 bushels.
Negroes some of them, from Louisiana and West Indian islands,
speaking French patois constitute about 20 per cent of the population,
274 TEXAS
and Galveston s many and varied industrial plants, together with a
large and steady demand for longshoremen, create an industrial situation
that makes living conditions among them better than in many cities.
P or this, as well as for the rareness of friction between the races and
the unusually large proportion of Negroes in the professional classes,
credit is commonly given to Norris Wright Cuney, Galveston leader of
the Negro race in Texas in the late nineteenth century, whose passion
was the advancement of Negro education. In 1883 a strike of white
longshoremen had almost closed the port and appeals were made to
him to supply Negro workmen. He did so, on the condition that when
the trouble was settled Negroes should work on the docks on a wage
equality with whites. He organized the Negro Longshoremen s Asso
ciation, which today supplies a large part of the water front labor, and
so wisely directed it as to establish standards of equity and tolerance in
labor relations. They have been maintained.
The present island of Galveston, when white men first landed on it
400 years ago, was two islands, and remained so until a storm in the
early nineteenth century closed the narrow pass between them. It was
almost certainly here or on the next bit of land to the westward now
called San Luis Island that Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to see
the interior of present-day Texas, was wrecked in 1528. He and his
companions called it Malhado (Misfortune), but after their escape
from the Indians and his publication in Spain of the narrative of his
journeyings, it was given the name Isla de las Culebras (Island of the
Snakes), and later it was called San Luis. The bay between the island
and the mainland was surveyed in 1785 or 1786 and named in honor
of Count Bernardo de Galvez, Viceroy of Mexico.
A Mexican revolution against Spain was in progress in 1816, when
Don Luis Aury arrived from New Orleans with a fleet of 15 vessels,
claimed the island in the name of Mexico, established a settlement and
fortifications, and set up a government. Using the harbor as a base of
operations, Aury s ships preyed on Spanish merchant vessels. He was
joined by another soldier of fortune, Francisco Xavier Mina, who
brought 200 men. Together they planned an expedition against the
Mexican coast, but quarreled on the way, and Aury turned back.
Meantime Jean Lafitte, notorious Barataria buccaneer who had
been driven from the Louisiana coast, sailed his little fleet into Galveston
Bay in May, 1817, and hoisted the Mexican flag over the almost de
serted settlement. When Aury returned to the island, he took one good
look at Lafitte s ships in the harbor, and sailed away.
Lafitte renamed the settlement Campeachy, and pirates, European
soldiers of fortune, privateers, a riffraff crowd of adventurers, Indian
squaws and Negro women flocked there. Surrounded by more than a
thousand lawless followers, Lafitte constructed a combination home,
warehouse and fortress which he called Maison Rouge (Fr., Red
House), at the corners of which and from the upper story protruded
the muzzles of cannon.
A village sprang up around the fortified house, consisting largely of
GALVESTON 275
slave marts, saloons, gambling halls, and kindred dens. Swashbuckling
rovers from all points of the compass came to the island principality.
The peak of its prosperity was reached in 1818, when raiding and pirate
expeditions brought great stores of spoils to be heaped on the shore and
sold, and several shiploads of slaves for whom Lafitte s standard price
was a dollar a pound. In that year two French generals, L Allemand
and Rigaud, ex-officers of Napoleon s Imperial Guard, arrived with 400
dashing adventurers and a touch of elegance. They established a settle
ment nearby, and a semblance of court life sprang up, centering at the
Red House in carousals less coarse than the drinking bouts of the
rougher buccaneers.
Many Spanish ships had been seized before Lafitte s departure
they were to number more than 100 and Spain was powerless to pre
vent it, yet protested any action by the United States that might become
a precedent for authority in Texas, and Lafitte was careful not to
commit depredations against United States vessels. But one of his
captains in 1819 disobediently fired on a United States cutter, and
although Lafitte, as soon as the offender returned to Campeachy, hanged
him "for piracy/ he blandly assured the cutter s commander this was
the beginning of the end. When another similar incident occurred,
United States authorities caught the perpetrators, and hanged two of
them, and public sentiment in the States demanded that the pirates
nest be cleaned out.
A fierce hurricane the next summer sank most of the vessels in the
harbor, drowning many men, and left the settlement in ruins. Even
the Red House partly collapsed, the heavy cannon in the upper story
crashing down on women who had been crowded into the building for
safety. Food stores had been ruined, famine threatened, and Lafitte s
problem was to reduce the number to be fed and provide funds for the
survival of the community. He did it by seizing a schooner that came
in from New Orleans, and ordering all Negroes in Campeachy to be
carried aboard. Not only the slaves, but free men and women, if they
were of African blood, were taken to New Orleans and sold.
Early in 1821 came trouble with Indians. The ferocious cannibal
istic Karankawas had often visited the western part of the island, but
left the pirates alone until four men of the settlement, out on a hunting
expedition, stole a squaw. The Indians retaliated by killing and eating
four of Lafitte s men, and the result was the Battle of Three Trees, in
what is now the site of Lafitte s Grove. The fight lasted three days,
the Karankawas being finally routed when the buccaneers brought up
several small cannon.
Soon afterward a United States cutter arrived with an ultimatum to
Lafitte that he must depart, and in May he and his remaining followers
set sail southward into legend, leaving Campeachy in flames. When the
fire had burned itself out, there remained only the Red House and
buildings in the French village.
Although the legislature of Coahuila and Texas made Galveston a
port in 1825, it was not until after 1830 that the new settlement began
276 TEXAS
to gain importance. In 1834 Michel B. Menard, with nine associates,
most of them Anglo-American, acquired title to one league and labor of
land (about 4,600 acres) and formed the first Galveston City Company.
When the Texas revolt against Mexico impended, in the following
year, the provisional government of Texas authorized a navy of four
ships and the granting of letters of marque to privateers, and designated
Galveston as the naval base. During the Revolution these ships operated
against the Mexican navy and prevented a blockade of the Texas coast.
Briefly, just before and until the successful outcome of the Battle of
San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, the village became the temporary capital
of the Republic through the arrival of President ad interim David
Burnet and his cabinet, who, with Santa Anna s army at their heels,
had fled from Harrisburg.
With the Republic firmly established, a tide of immigration from
the United States and Europe poured through the port, many of the
arrivals remaining to establish homes. By 1839, when the city was
incorporated, it had more than 250 houses, and within three years the
customs duties were going far toward the support of the Republic, Port
Collector Gail Borden reporting receipts for one quarter of a year to be
more than $40,000. Notwithstanding serious storms, epidemics of
yellow fever, and a fire that destroyed much of the business district, the
city had gained great commercial importance and a population of more
than 10,000 before the Civil War began.
After a long blockade by United States naval vessels, Commander
William B. Renshaw took command of the fleet on October I, 1862,
and a few days later demanded the surrender of the city, but gave four
days, if his demand should be refused, for the evacuation of noncom-
batants. His occupation of the harbor on October 9 was not resisted,
and the force of marines that landed to raise the Union flag over the
customhouse and be given formal possession of the city by the mayor was
received at the city hall by the Galveston fire department in full parade
uniform. On January I, 1863, after a stirring battle on land and water
in which boats piled high with cotton bales, called "cotton-clads,"
attacked the Union ships General John Bankhead Magruder retook
the city for the Confederacy. Galveston then remained under the
Stars and Bars until the close of the war.
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger unwittingly
established an annual holiday that has endured ever since, when he took
over the city and proclaimed that all slaves in the state were free.
"Juneteenth," as it is commonly called, is Emancipation Day in Texas,
the greatest Negro day of celebration.
After the Civil War, trade channels opened quickly, and cotton
shipments became heavy. The epidemics of yellow fever that had
afflicted the island were conquered. In 1889 Congress decided to make
Galveston a deep-water port, and the channel and harbor improvements,
made at a Federal cost of $6,200,000 and completed in 1896, included
two jetties of great granite blocks, one jetty five and the other seven
miles long. The last year of the century found the city with a popula-
GALVESTON 277
tion of 38,000, with foreign commerce increasing, and with the general
outlook exceedingly bright. Since its first settlement it had suffered
from severe hurricanes, but the year 1900 was destined to be that from
which most later Galveston history has been dated the year of The
Storm.
The island s highest elevation, then, was eight and a fraction feet,
and there was nothing to break the force of the gale from the Gulf
which reached hurricane proportions on September 8. As water inun
dated the lower parts of the city and the wind increased, people sought
refuge on higher ground and many left for the mainland, but by night
those who remained were unable to leave, or even to venture out of
doors safely because of flying debris. The wind attained a velocity of
at least no miles an hour, and at the hurricane s height the water rose
four feet in as many seconds and washed over the island.
Survivors emerged from the wreckage of their homes the next
morning to contemplate indescribable scenes of horror. Some sections
along the Gulf were entirely bare, while others were covered with great
hills of splintered timbers, twisted roofs and battered human bodies.
Fifteen hundred acres of houses were totally destroyed. Nobody knows
precisely how many lives were lost, but conservative estimates place the
number at 6,000. Eight thousand people were homeless, many of them
destitute. The property loss was $20,000,000. Most extreme example
of what had happened to vessels in the harbor is that of a 4,ooo-ton
British steamship which had been torn from its moorings, carried over
Pelican Spit and Pelican Island, and ultimately stranded on a 3O-foot
bank in Chambers County, 22 miles from deep water.
As soon as the city leaders could get together, the day after the
storm, they organized a relief committee, and a department of safety
which functioned until martial law could be established. All able-bodied
survivors were impressed for the task of finding and caring for the
injured, and cleaning up the city. Burial of the dead was impossible,
and bodies, many of them crushed beyond all possibility of identification,
were piled on barges, towed far out into the Gulf and committed to the
sea. The tides of the following day brought most of them back, strew
ing them along the beach, whereupon huge pyres were built on the
sands and the corpses were burned.
For a few days Galveston had to oe sufficient to itself. Famine and
a water shortage threatened. Efficiently the city lived up to its motto,
Yo Solo (I Alone) which it took from the escutcheon of the Count of
Galvez. Then aid came money, supplies, the Red Cross with Clara
Barton herself in charge, 30,000 laborers supplied by the State, credit.
Rehabilitation began.
It soon became evident that the city s problems could not be solved
under its charter, or under the existing charter of any other American
municipality. Out of numerous conferences grew a new form of city
government, which, with greater or less modification, has since been
adopted by many other American cities as the Galveston plan, more
recently called the commission plan.
278 TEXAS
That there might never be a recurrence of such a disaster, two vast
engineering projects were undertaken the sea wall and grade-raising.
The bulwark that has been reared against storm waves is seven and a half
miles long, 15 feet wide at its base and five at its top, which is 17 feet
above mean low tide. It is built of reinforced concrete, and as a further
protection a 27-foot-wide breakwater was constructed of huge granite
blocks. The level of the city was raised as high as the sea wall on the
Gulf side, sloping from there to the natural level at the bay. Thou
sands of acres were elevated at least eight feet, and in large sections
12 to 15 feet. Canals and ditches were laid out, all structures that could
be raised in the areas progressively filled in were placed on stilts, and
dredges drew soggy sand from the floor of Bolivar Roads, to be pumped
beneath the houses as a new foundation. For years, while the channel
was being deepened and its bed transferred to the city, large sections of
"roost" houses stood high in the air, connected by sidewalks raised on
trestles.
The efficiency of the sea wall s protection although its length was
then much less than now was put to a severe test on August 15, 1915,
when another hurricane struck the island. Great waves beat upon that
part of the wall which had been finished and sent spray flying 50 feet
into the air. So fierce was the storm that the three-masted schooner
Allison Doura, loaded with sisal, was swept shoreward from a hundred
miles out in the Gulf and thrown over the sea wall and into Fort
Crockett, where soldiers rescued the crew. But the barrier held. Only
eight lives were lost in the city, although on the mainland coast the
mortality was close to a hundred. The greatest property damage re
sulted from partial destruction of the causeway. Two interurban cars,
loaded with passengers from Houston, were stranded in the middle of
the causeway when power lines were blown down. Marooned a few
feet above the frothing water for hours, the passengers emerged when
the storm subsided, to find that they had occupied the only part of the
structure that had not been washed away.
In its planning for the future, Galveston adopted zoning regulations
providing for a manufacturing and commercial section, purely resi
dential districts, a strictly recreational area, and a hospital zone. The
city is noted among Southern municipalities for its hospitals, in the
establishment of which Texas and the Federal government have par
ticipated, and for its medical and nursing schools.
Besides warehouses, cotton compresses, grain elevators, the drydocks
and other businesses tributary to ships and shipping, Galveston s large
industries include a wire and nail factory, two grain mills, one of them
processing rice, a bagging company, and a brewery. It had, at the
beginning of 1940, 42 wholesale and approximately 515 retail mercan
tile establishments. Shrimping is also a major industry, about 2,000,000
pounds being exported annually. Three insurance companies have their
home offices in the city.
As the years have passed, the city s attractions, especially those of the
great recreation center along the beach and upon and back of the sea
GALVESTON 279
wall, have drawn to Galveston ever-increasing swarms of visitors. These
had become so great by 1935 that automobile traffic across the single
vehicular causeway was often badly congested, and in 1936 a new
$2,500,000 causeway was begun, parallel to the other and 500 feet dis
tant from it. Since its completion in 1938 the pleasure-seeking tourist
has been assured of easy and speedy access to the city and its Gulf-side
playground.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. The MOSQUITO FLEET, Pier 20, foot of 2Oth St., is made up
of about 75 boats, some motored, others sailboats with auxiliary power,
whose owners shrimp or fish around the island and far south. They
leave the harbor between midnight and dawn and return toward sunset,
accompanied by flocks of sea gulls, eager for shrimpheads. When
shrimp are scarce the men of the fleet, numbering about a thousand,
engage in commercial fishing, and in the trading of farm produce. The
name Mosquito Fleet dates from early years, and is supposed to have
come from a fancied resemblance, as the little sailboats of those days
went out, the craft being small and swarming together.
2. The GALVESTON NEWS-TRIBUNE PLANT (open 8:30-
5:30 workdays), 2108-16 Mechanic St., is the home of the oldest daily
newspaper in Texas. The building, completed in 1884, is of Victorian
type, and is faced chiefly in red brick, with ornamental features of white
and pink stone and touches of yellow. Nicholas J. Clayton was the
architect.
Established in 1842 by Samuel Bangs and George H. French, and
soon afterward sold to Michael Cronican and Wilbur F. Cherry, the
News in 1845 became the property of Willard Richardson, under whom
it gained recognition without the aid of either railroads or telegraph.
The paper became known throughout the South as The Old Lady by
the Sea. During the Civil War it was published in Houston, returning
to Galveston soon after hostilities came to an end.
In 1866 Alfred H. Belo became part owner, and on the death of his
partner in 1875 took full charge. He attended the Centennial Exhibi
tion in Philadelphia in 1876, and was so greatly impressed by a demon
stration of the recently invented telephone that in 1878 he installed a
set between his home and the newspaper office, stringing the wires on
trees and over housetops. In 1879, when the first telephone exchange
in Texas was established in Galveston, the News was its first subscriber.
It was the first newspaper in Texas to use a regular telegraph serv
ice, and was also a charter member of the Associated Press. In 1923 it
was purchased by W. L. Moody, Jr., who in 1926 combined it with the
Galveston Tribune, publishing the two papers as morning and evening
editions.
3. ST. MARY S CATHEDRAL, SE. corner of Church and Center
Sts., is of early Gothic design. Two octagonal towers with pointed
roofs rise high above the main structure. The stone walls are surfaced
with plaster, marked off in blocks. Behind the crossing of the main
280 TEXAS
nave and the transept rises the belfry tower, surmounted by a statue of
"Mary, Star of the Sea," placed there after a hurricane of 1875. During
the storm of 1900 residents looked anxiously toward the swaying tower,
for it had become legendary that as long as the "Star of the Sea"
remained aloft the island would not be destroyed. Although the two-
ton bell was torn from beneath it, the marble statue weathered the
storm.
Erected in 1848 as the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Texas, St. Mary s is the oldest church building in Galveston. The
Right Reverend John Murray Odin, first Bishop of Texas, directed its
construction. A marble obelisk in front of the building bears the names
of priests who died of yellow fever while ministering to victims during
the epidemic of 1853.
4. TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH (open 8-8:30 daily}, SW.
corner 22d and Winnie Sts., of medieval Gothic type, is a structure of
unusual dignity and architectural grace. The ivy-covered, red brick
walls create an atmosphere of age. A square tower with a crenelated
parapet and octagonal buttresses on each corner forms the main en
trance. Large stained glass windows of Gothic type are set between
the buttresses. A cloister extends from the main building across the
landscaped lawn to the parish house. The ten-bell bronze chimes, a
memorial to John Sealy, can be played in three keys. Stowe and Stowe
designed the building, which was completed in 1857.
5. The ROSENBERG LIBRARY (open 8-8 workdays), NW. corner
of Tremont St. and Sealy Ave., was opened on June 22, 1904. Henry
Rosenberg, Galveston merchant and banker, bequeathed a fund of
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
GALVESTON. Points of Interest
1. Mosquito Fleet
2. Galveston News-Tribune Plant
3. St. Mary s Cathedral
4. Trinity Episcopal Church
5. Rosenberg Library
6. Walter Gresham House
7. Sacred Heart Church
8. El Mina Shrine Temple
9. Texas Heroes Monument
10. Ursuline Convent
11. Menard House
12. Samuel May Williams House
13. Fort Crockett
14. Principal Hospital Area
B
To:
Houston
Richmond
La Porte
H
Union R.R. 1
Coastal
U-t
\^\
Texas BusL
ines
thouse"
B
TO:
Port Arthur h-
Orange
IMPNEI
Bathhouse.,
1ENARD
PARI
To:
Airport
GALVESTON
1940
LEGEND
US.Highways
State Highways
Connecting Streets
Railroads
_ nunrouab
(e) Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
f/8
Scale
1/2
Miles
282 TEXAS
$620,529 for a Galveston free public library. Of this, $200,000 was
spent for the site and building, leaving an ample endowment. The two-
story structure, of late Italian Renaissance design, is faced in buff-
colored brick, with terra cotta trim. The hip roof of green tile has a
flat deck, around which is a copper cresting. Ornamental iron light
standards rise on each side of the buttresses that flank the stone entrance
steps. The architects were W. S. Eames and Thomas C. Young of St.
Louis, and Alfred Rosenheim, consulting architect.
The library contains about 100,000 volumes and approximately
25,000 original manuscripts, photostatic reproductions, and typewritten
transcripts, dating from 1655 to 1933. Among these are letters and
documents bearing the signatures of Washington, Lafayette, Lincoln
and Webster. There are about 60 letters in Austin s handwriting, and
papers signed by General Houston, Andrew Jackson, U. S. Grant, and
Jefferson Davis.
6. The WALTER GRESHAM HOUSE (open by arrangement),
NW. corner of Broadway and 1 4th St., once the showplace of Galveston
and the Southwest, has been owned by the Roman Catholic Church
since 1923, and is the residence of the Bishop of the Diocese of Gal
veston. The house was built in 1885-1892 by Walter Gresham, prom
inent Galveston lawyer, Congressman and Civil War veteran. Nicholas
J. Clayton was the architect. An ornate pile of stone designed along
Romanesque lines, but with many Victorian details, the structure of
three stories and a basement has a steep-pitched tile roof, above which
rise high ornamental chimneys and minarets. Wings project to the
east and west and the roof has dormers on all sides. In front of the
main entrance and around the circular corner bay is a very delicate
wrought iron grille. Ornamental wrought iron balconies project from
the third story. The main walls are of rough limestone w r ith pink and
gray-blue granite introduced in panels and bands. The grounds are
enclosed by a low wall and a hedge, and heavy foliage is banked against
the house.
The tapestries, paintings and rich furnishings of the Gresham
regime are gone, but remaining are the fine woodwork of hand-carved
white mahogany from the Caroline Islands, red mahogany from Mexico,
oak from Texas, satinwood from the West Indies, pine from Louisiana,
cherry and walnut from northern States, the columns, fireplaces, and
mantels of African and Italian marble and Mexican onyx, and the
great, curving stairway.
7. The SACRED HEART CHURCH, NE. corner I4th St. and
Broadway, designed by Brother Otten, member of the Jesuit Order,
and completed in 1904, is a two-story building of white monolithic
concrete, with Moorish and Byzantine influences predominating. On
the two front corners of the church proper are three-story octagonal
towers, with a fleur-de-lis cresting of stone. Round columns support
the Moorish arches of the porch. An ornamental Byzantine dome is
surmounted by a stone statue of Christ.
GALVESTON 283
8. EL MINA SHRINE TEMPLE (open 9-5 except Sun., 9-3), 2328
Broadway, was constructed in 1859 by Captain J. M. Brown, and is
also called the Brown Home and Ashton Villa. It is occupied by El
Mina Temple. Order of the Mystic Shrine. The main structure is a
Louisiana-French Renaissance mansion of ante bellum days, three
stories in height and faced in red brick, with white stone lintels and
sills. The front facade has a two-story, ornamental iron porch reminis
cent of the old French Quarter in New Orleans. All windows have
full-length shutters. Brick for the house was brought by schooner from
Philadelphia.
Left of the entrance hall is the gold room, or old parlor, scene dur
ing Captain Brown s ownership of many brilliant social gatherings.
The walls and ceiling, decorated in white and gold, with cornices of an
ornamental leaf beautifully carved in plaster, are exactly as when first
completed by a Parisian artificer. The graceful old staircase has a
mahogany newel post and handrails and a white painted banister.
The house was used as a hospital through yellow fever epidemics and
during the Battle of Galveston. Here Major General Gordon Granger
accepted the surrender of Galveston in 1865.
9. The TEXAS HEROES MONUMENT, Broadway and Rosenberg
Ave., a memorial to heroes of the Texas Revolution, was the gift of
Henry Rosenberg, Galveston citizen and philanthropist. An impressive
bronze figure of Victory, sword in left hand and olive wreath in right,
towers high on a marble pedestal. At the base sculptured bronze figures
and bas-relief bronze entablatures depict outstanding events of the
Revolution. The statue was unveiled on April 21, 1900, the sixty-
fourth anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. The sculptor was
Louis Amateis.
10. URSULINE CONVENT (open 3-5 schooldays), Ave, N between
Rosenberg Ave. and 27th St., has served as school, hospital and refuge
for nearly a century. The first building, now the convent proper, was
erected in 1854, and the east wing was added in 1861. The central
unit, completed in 1892, was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton. It
presents a blending of Gothic, Romanesque, and Moorish lines and
color treatment. The walls are faced in red brick with white and gray
limestone trim, varied with bands of alternating red and white. Two
flat-topped, octagonal towers rise a story higher than the main body of
the structure. The walls of the three-story east wing are smooth, cream-
colored plaster on masonry, pierced by numerous green-shuttered win
dows. Between this wing and the main building is wedged a small
chapel built in 1871, with plain Gothic lines that contrast with the
ornate main unit. The main entrance, on the west, rises three stories
in a series of arched openings and tall Gothic windows.
The convent was established in 1847 by Bishop J. M. Odin, aided
by six nuns from New Orleans. Within a decade after its founding it
housed a flourishing day and boarding school, and later at times served
as a hospital through yellow fever epidemics. During the Battle of
Galveston the Ursulines refused General Magruder s offer of trans-
284 TEXAS
portation to a safety zone and maintained in the convent a hospital for
the wounded of hoth armies. Young Lieutenant Sidney A. Sherman,
son of General Sidney Sherman, died here.
Federal forces, mistaking the convent for a Confederate stronghold,
concentrated their fire on it. General Magruder sent word to the
Sisters to hoist a yellow flag, the signal for quarantine. Shells fell
closer as the gunners on the ships improved their range, while the Sis
ters hunted frantically for yellow cloth. Local tradition says that one
of them found a wide yellow skirt in a student s trunk, that a soldier
climbed to the belfry and waved it aloft, and the bombardment stopped
immediately. For years afterward the Sisters picked up spent bombs on
the grounds and used them for flatiron stands, until one exploded and
shattered a wall of the laundry.
Each year delegates representing Confederate veterans and the
Grand Army of the Republic assemble here to decorate the grave of
Mother St. Pierre Harrington, superior of the convent during the Civil
War. Her name and those of five Sisters of the Galveston Ursulines
are inscribed upon the Nuns of the Battlefield Monument in Washing
ton, D. C.
11. The MENARD HOUSE (private), is on the SW. corner of Ave.
Nj/2 and 33d St. Michel B. Menard, of French descent, came to Texas
as a fur trader, prospered in land deals, and organized the Galveston
City Company. In 1838 he had white pine and four fluted Ionic col
umns shipped to him from Maine in sailing vessels, built a two-story
house of Greek Revival design, and named it The Oaks. The mortised
w alls and joists set in white lead have withstood the weathering of more
than a century. The ells and the two rooms at the back were added at
a later date, and the interior has been remodeled. Civic groups bought
the house in 1937, to preserve it as a memorial to the city s founder.
Until Menard s death in 1856 The Oaks was widely known for
hospitality and social gatherings, among these the first local Mardi Gras
celebration, in 1853.
12. The SAMUEL MAY WILLIAMS HOUSE (private), SW.
corner 36th St. and Ave. P, was built about 1838. It is a one-story
structure of northern white pine, with hand-hewn pine sills. The
brick kitchen remains almost unchanged since the days when the crane
and the pothooks in the large fireplace were is use, and bread was baked
in the built-in bricken oven by slaves.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
GALVESTON VICINITY. Points of Interest
15. Offatt s Bayou
1 6. Fort San Jacinto
To: Libert
LA PORTE
SYLVAN BEACH
GALVESTON
VICINITY
I94O
LEGEND
75H6>U.S.,StoteHighways
g)roints of Interest-Number
Streams o Towns
i twin wvivj** .sfe,, _ Mo r s p
Airports ra Cities
286 TEXAS
Samuel May Williams came to Texas in 1824, and soon after was
appointed secretary of the Austin colony. In partnership with Thomas
F. McKinney he became a successful merchant in Quintana, and he
and McKinney were members of the first Galveston City Company.
He established here the first chartered bank in Texas, in 1835; and in
1839 he arranged for the sending of a ship from Liverpool to receive
the first direct European export shipment to leave Galveston.
13. FORT CROCKETT (not open), adjoins Seawall Blvd., between
39th and 53d Sts., a Coast Artillery post occupying 125 acres, was
completed in 1899 and named for David Crockett. The buildings are
of modified Spanish type, most of them yellow, with red roofs. Parades
can be seen from the sea wall, and directly opposite the parade grounds
are seacoast batteries with modern heavy artillery. West of the Fort
on S Road is Fort Crockett Airport.
During the Mexican border troubles of 1912 this fort was used as
a mobilization center, and General Frederick Funston s 5th Brigade
was stationed here until it sailed to Vera Cruz.
14. GALVESTON S PRINCIPAL HOSPITAL AREA (open),
occupies a 12-block district bounded by Water, nth, and Market Sts.,
and Boulevard. Most of the stucco and brick units follow a Spanish
Renaissance motif, with walls in neutral shades of buff or gray, and
with red tile roofs. They were constructed over a period of more than
40 years; the main unit, the Sealy Hospital, was built in 1890 as the
result of a $50,000 bequest from John Sealy, Galveston financier, which
since has been greatly added to in cash and endowment by members of
his family. It is staffed from the Medical Branch of the University of
Texas, which has an annual enrollment of 380 students, and the nurses
here are from the School of Nursing, also a branch of the University.
Other institutions in the area include a State and a City Psychopathic
Hospital, the Texas State Hospital for Crippled and Deformed Chil
dren, the Negro Hospital, the Out-Patients Clinic, and the New
Laboratory Building. The last contains a library of 25,000 volumes,
many of them rare medical works.
15. OFFATT S BAYOU, paralleling Broadway, and reached by 6ist
St., a deep indentation of Galveston Bay, is a popular camp site, fishing
resort, and motorboat racing course.
16. FORT SAN JACINTO (not open), E. end of Galveston Island,
occupies a Government reservation of 419 acres adjoining the sea wall.
Armaments are under the command of the Coast Defense.
Houston
Railroad Stations: 329 Franklin Ave. for Southern Pacific Lines; Union Sta
tion, 501 Crawford St., for Missouri Pacific Lines, Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe
Ry., and Burlington-Rock Island R.R. ; 3 N. Main St., for Missouri-Kansas-
Texas Lines; 700 McCarty St. for Houston North Shore Ry. (electric).
Bus Stations: Greyhound Union Bus Terminal, 713 Milam St., for South
western Greyhound Lines, Inc., Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., Kerrville Bus Co.,
Inc., Bee Line Coaches, Inc., Bayshore Bus Lines, and Texas Bus Lines; Bowen
Bus Center, 300 Travis St., for Bowen Motor Coaches, Inc., Missouri Pacific
Trailways, Sabine-Neches Stages, Inc., Bee Line Coaches Inc., Bayshore Bus
Lines, Airline Motor Coaches, Texas Bus Lines, Beaumont, Sour Lake & West
ern Bus Line; All American Bus Depot, 811 Capitol Ave., for Bowen Motor
Coaches, Sabine-Neches Stages, Inc., and Missouri Pacific Trailways.
Airports: Houston Airport, 10 ra. SE. on Telephone Rd. (State 35), for
Braniff Airways, Inc., and Eastern Air Lines, Inc., taxi 75^, time 45 min. ;
Minor Stewart Airport, 12 m. S. on Almeda Rd. (State 288), sightseeing trips
and charter service; Main Street Airport, 6 m. out S. Main St. (US 90), sight
seeing trips and charter service.
Steamship Passenger Pier: Piers i and 2, 75th St., for Clyde-Mallory Line,
New York. Passenger vessels arrive on Tues. and sail on Wed.
Streetcars and City Busses: Fare 10^, children under 12, on local lines, 4^,
others 5^; 4 tokens 30^, not good on express lines.
Taxis: Fare 15^ for first m. or fraction, 5^ each additional 0.5 m.
Traffic Regulations: No left turns on or into Main St. between Preston and
Dallas Aves., inclusive; no parking on Main St. between Commerce and Polk
Aves., 6-9; parking meters in downtown area with time limit specified; one-way
streets, Walker Ave. from Caroline St. to Buffalo Dr.; Rusk Ave. from Bagby
to Caroline Sts. ; Bagby St. from Walker Ave. to Rusk Ave.
Accommodations: 35 hotels for whites, 3 for Negroes; adequate rooming
houses, tourist lodges, and trailer camps, with wide price range.
Information Service: Chamber of Commerce, 914 Main St.; Motor League of
South Texas, mezzanine floor, San Jacinto Hotel, 820 Main St.
Radio Stations: KPRC (920 kc.) ; KTRH (1290 kc.) ; KXYZ (1440 kc.).
Baseball: Buffalo Stadium, St. Bernard and Hussion Sts. and Calhoun Ave.,
Texas League.
Golf: Hermann Park Golf Course (municipal), S. Main St. between Hermann
Ave. and Marlborough Dr., 18 holes, 50^; Memorial Park Golf Course (mu
nicipal), 6200 Washington Ave., 18 holes, 50^.
Horseback Riding: 6 privately owned stables, rates 75^ to $i an hour.
Swimming: Municipal Swimming Pool, Stude Park, Whiteoak Dr. and Usener
Blvd. at Taylor St., io and 25^; Mason Park Pool, S. 75th St. between Tipps
St. and Bray s Bayou, io and 25^; Heights Natatorium, 200 Harvard Ave.,
10^ and 20^; Emancipation Park Pool (for Negroes), 3100 Dowling St., io
and 20^.
Tennis: Information on tennis courts open to public can be obtained from
Houston Recreation Dept., City Auditorium, 702-8 Texas Ave.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: City Auditorium, road shows, concerts,
and local productions; Houston Little Theater, 707 Chelsea Blvd.; Houston
Players, 1708 Main St.; Children s Theater, 3403 Yupon St.; Miller Memorial
Theater, Hermann Park; Museum of Fine Arts, S. Main St. and Montrose
Blvd., Sunday concerts, Nov. to Apr.; Sam Houston Coliseum, 810 Bagby St.,.
287
288 TEXAS
theatrical productions, irdustrial exhibits and livestock shows; 29 motion pic
ture houses for whites, 6 for Negroes.
Annual Events: Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition, spring,
date varies; Houston Country Club Invitation Golf Tournament, Houston
Country Club, usually in Feb.; San Jacinto Day Celebration, Apr. 21; River
Oaks Invitation Tennis Tournament, River Oaks Country Club, usually Apr.;
State Championship Trapshoot, Houston Gun Club, 7 ra. S. on Westheimer Rd.,
May; South Texas Exposition, industrial-commercial exhibition, Oct.
HOUSTON (53 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 292,352; est. pop.
1 94> 385,000), the largest city of Texas and newest of the Nation s
major shipping centers, is a tidewater port 50 miles inland, connected
with the Gulf Coast by the Houston Ship Channel. The meandering
Buffalo Bayou, on which a straggling settlement was established more
than a century ago, is now a busy waterway with attendant commercial
and industrial activities. Massive office buildings of set-back architec
tural design offer a sharp contrast to the frame shacks of the days when
Houston was the capital of the new and struggling Republic of Texas.
Within the city s borders are 73 square miles of land. So rapid has
been its recent growth that estimates placed the population of its metro
politan area in 1940 at more than 450,000.
Towering above the lush green prairie where its suburbs multiply
like the ripples in a pond, Houston s sky line is that of a lusty growing
giant ; its factory smokestacks are as thick as are the oil derricks in the
fields nearby; its office buildings are more those of the North and East
than the usual product of a Texas city. Several of the closely grouped
central buildings were erected to house the offices of oil companies the
Gulf, Petroleum, Humble, Shell and Oil and Gas Buildings.
The Houston Ship Channel, opened in 1915, upon which work of
expansion continues, is the basis of the city s rapid development. From
the meager "100 bails" of cotton shipped down the bayou in 1826, the
Port of Houston by 1940 had developed into the largest cotton port
in the United States and the largest in the world for oil exporting,
ranking third in the United States in total exports and third in cargo
tonnage.
An early English traveler in Texas described Buffalo Bayou as a
jungle river, bordered by magnolias eighty feet in height with a girth
like huge forest trees." The land slopes from wooded heights on the
northwest to the bayou, which runs through the business section, at the
lowest part of the city; and then, after rising slightly from the bayou,
descends to the southern boundaries. Throughout the city are institu
tions representing educational and cultural development that has kept
pace with the commercial growth.
Houston s residential areas are notable for their natural beauty;
pines, great oaks, cypresses, elms and magnolias line the streets and
afford primeval settings for spacious grounds of dwellings and public
buildings. Spanish moss hangs low from the live oaks ; wild grapevines
are draped over tangled woodlands. Quail and cardinals find refuge
in the yards of the mansions of River Oaks, one of the most beautiful
HOUSTON 289
of the outlying residential sections; here, roses bloom the year around
and hibiscus; hydrangea, jasmine, azalea, and magnolia blooms enhance
the southern picture. Huge houses often are barely visible behind the
enduring green of their trees and hedges. Even in less pretentious
districts, yards have an abundance of flowers and shrubs; ample rainfall
produces luxuriant growth.
Contrasted with this aspect of Houston is its port district, a teeming,
noisy place where the Neptune Store, the Port Cafe, and the Seven
Seas Store are part of a salty atmosphere that is authentic even though
inland from the coast so many miles. Here a beer sign announces that
a certain brand "steadies your nerves"; a seamen s institute beckons
passing sailors, and a maritime supply company offers merchandise dear
to the hearts of seafaring men. Drab, unpainted rooming houses,
canoes rotting in front yards, and the shacks of Negro dock workers,
are fringed by the dusty green of salt cedars and the pastel tints of
oleanders.
One of Houston s most interesting areas is its far-flung Negro dis
trict, particularly the part called French Town, adjacent to Liberty
Road. It is peopled almost exclusively by Louisiana Negroes who came
to Houston two decades ago. They use their native French patois
when conversing with one another, and the women are known for their
excellent Creole cooking. Life revolves around Our Lady of Mercy
Roman Catholic Church, and the adjoining convent where Negro nuns
are trained and an elementary school is conducted. Many of the men
of this district are employed as laborers in various industrial plants.
In the sections where Negroes live, in rows of drab "shotgun"
houses, the yards are bright with flowers ; chickens scratch inside a crazy-
quilt of fences; turnips, favored in season, grow in miniature gardens.
Sagging porches have sagging rocking chairs, and in these aged "mam
mies" rule small domains, sternly admonishing the accumulated children,
chickens and dogs as occasion demands. On the unpaved streets the
bright yellow of bananas gleams in ramshackle wagons, or in the push
carts of Negro peddlers; bananas are cheap because of the port. Other
Negroes peddle ice cream from wooden boxes on wheels. Barbecue
stands are numerous. Signs on business establishments include "Mam
my s Washiteria," the "Welcome Home Shine Parlor," and the "Harlem
Grill." Patched-together sidewalk stands, similar to those erected on
the streets of San Antonio by Mexicans, offer for sale such varied
articles as wood, cure-alls for all kinds of "misery," packages of char
coal, and fried fish.
Established Negro groups have developed an important community
life, with their own churches, schools, homes, civic and social clubs, and
a hospital. They publish three weekly newspapers and a semimonthly
paper, the Negro Labor News, official journal of the Texas Negro Busi
ness and Laboring Men s Association.
The handling of cargoes at the turning basin is divided about equally
between white and Negro longshoremen. Other Negroes are employed
principally in railroad shops, lumberyards, garages, hotels, and in domes-
29O TEXAS
tic service. Among Negroes in the professions are graduates of Yale,
Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, and Northwestern Universities.
No visitor can fully appreciate Houston without a knowledge of its
early days. Its story is a drama of handicaps overcome ; of opportu
nities accepted. Its sky line becomes doubly impressive when super
imposed upon a mental picture of the city s earliest years. A flam
boyant real estate promotion of 1836 is the Texas metropolis of 1940.
The promoters were the Allen brothers, John K. and Augustus C.,
who came to Texas from New York. Thirteen years before the Aliens
venture took form, the town of Harrisburg, now within the southeastern
corporate limits of Houston, was founded as a trading post by John
Richardson Harris, a native of the State of New York, who arrived
in Texas in 1823 as one of Stephen F. Austin s colonists.
Harris sought a location on a waterway readily accessible to both
land and ocean traffic, and in July, 1824, obtained title to a tract at
the confluence of Buffalo and Bray s Bayous, then the head of navi
gation.
Within two years the settlement became a lively maritime trading
post. When John Harris three brothers joined him, the combined
Harris interests built up a small fleet, and Buffalo Bayou for the first
time saw regular navigation. Harrisburg became a timber town, ship
ping its lumber to New Orleans and Mexican ports. In 1829, John
Harris sailed for New Orleans to purchase supplies and machinery for
his sawmill, and while there died of yellow fever. His heirs became
involved in litigation over his estate.
Augustus C. and John K. Allen reached Nacogdoches from New
York in 1832 and speculated in real estate. Augustus, who was not
robust, sought a milder climate and invested heavily in land at Gal-
veston and elsewhere along the coast. During a long legal contest
over the Harris estate he and his brother banked their pirogue (a hol
lowed log boat) at Harrisburg and made the Harris heirs a proposal
to purchase their town. The price, however, was too high, and there
was little indication that the Mexican government would settle the legal
dispute over the property at any time in the near future.
In March, 1836, President ad interim Burnet and his cabinet hastily
transferred the seat of government from Washington on the Brazos
to Harrisburg, considered at that time the safest refuge from Santa
Anna s approaching Mexican forces. The executives were received in
the Harris home, where they conducted the business of the newborn
republic, keeping an eye on the advancing Santa Anna. Gail Borden s
newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register, official government organ,
followed the officials to Harrisburg and there resumed publication.
The Mexican dictator, hoping to capture the provisional officers,
arrived on the night of April 14, 1836. His entry was lighted by the
glare of burning buildings as the town was evacuated by the citizens,
some of them putting the torch to their own homes to deprive the
Mexicans of that pleasure. The Mexicans, enraged at finding their
quarry gone, completed the destruction. They found only three men,
HOUSTON 291
printers, in the Borden shop. These they arrested but released the next
day. The newspaper plant was completely destroyed.
Destruction of their town was a cruel blow to the Harris family,
but it was a stroke of luck for the Aliens. They immediately planned
the development of another town near by, and A. C. Allen fixed upon
the site by paddling up the bayou in his pirogue, sounding the depth
frequently, until he arrived at what seemed to be the highest point of
navigation for medium-draft boats. This spot was near a rich farming
area, already in the process of settlement. Disembarking, he sat on a
grass-covered bank, and, tradition says, using his hat for a table, sketched
a plan of his proposed city on a scrap of paper. This he sent to his
brother, a member of the Texas Congress at Columbia, who displayed
it in the capitol.
The land, granted first to John Austin, was acquired after much
legal maneuvering, and on August 24, 1836, the Aliens bought the
upper league from William T. Austin, son of John Austin, for $i an
acre, one-half in cash and the balance secured by a promissory note.
Two days later, at the Brazoria home of Dr. T. F. L. Parrott, who
had married the widow of John Austin, they purchased the south half
of the lower league for $5,000. The lower league was the site of the
early town. The modern city completely covers both leagues.
This wild and desolate stretch of prairie might have caused less
experienced promoters than the Aliens some hesitation. There were
two perennial problems, mud and mosquitoes. Indians roamed the
woods ; alligators infested the bayous ; yellow fever was an ever-impend
ing menace. In addition, Harrisburg, slowly rising from its ashes, still
commanded the outlet to the sea. Such were the handicaps of the set
tlement when it was placed on the market as a town site on August
30, 1836.
The brothers named the town for Sam Houston. A pretentious
map, made by Gail and Thomas H. Borden, was displayed in the Senate
Chamber at Columbia, showing a square set aside for a capitol and
congressional building.
The mapped town site embraced 62 blocks, and to put settlers on
them the Aliens turned to high-pressure publicity. Advertisements
lauding Houston to the skies appeared in newspapers throughout the
United States. As a result, frontiersmen, ever pressing west, came
overland by horseback or oxcart from the Blue Ridge and Great Smokies
and from the rolling hills of the Ozarks ; others came from down the
Mississippi, and from the big cities of the North and East. Families
trekked in from Brazoria, Columbia, and other settlements in Texas.
Land speculators, banking on the acumen of the Aliens, hastened to
the valiant little upstart metropolis, paddling up the root-tangled bayou
in flatboats.
Despite the publicity campaign and the steady immigration of
pioneers, the "Town of Houston" was still so insignificant in January,
1837, that the skipper of the stern-wheel steamboat Laura M. went three
miles past the stakes marking the trail from river to town, and had
292 TEXAS
to back up. It had taken him three days to navigate the 1 6 miles
between Harrisburg and Houston, hacking his way through overhanging
vegetation, yet the only mishap on the journey was the loss of the ship s
cook, who went overboard at a sudden lurch.
The Laura M. cleared Buffalo Bayou, between Harrisburg and
Houston, of all impediments save shoals, and now larger vessels ven
tured to navigate the waterway. The schooner Rolla arrived with a
cargo for the Allen brothers in April, and presently two sister side-
wheelers, the Diana and the T. Al. Bagby, went into regular service.
They were described as palatial, with a 32-foot beam and a length of
170 feet each, and were luxuriously furnished.
A month before the government moved into its new capital, in
May, 1837, tne Aliens completed the capitol, a one-story pine struc
ture extending from. Prairie Avenue nearly to Texas Avenue on
the west side of Main Street. In one wing was the Senate Chamber,
in the other, Congressional Hall. The administrative offices occupied
the center. Later Thomas W. Ward was awarded a contract by the
Aliens for the construction of a two-story structure, built of Maine
lumber, to occupy two and one-half lots on the northwest corner of
Main Street and Texas Avenue. This building was leased by the
Aliens to the Republic of Texas at an annual rental of $5,000. Chairs
for the lawmakers were not ordered until after sessions had begun.
In 1837 Houston, then the seat of county and national government,
boasted a population of about 1,200 people, with political officials and
their families in the majority. On June 5 of that year it was incor
porated.
Gail Borden and his brother had followed the government to Hous
ton, and set up the equipment for the town s first newspaper on May 2.
It was sold in a short time to Jacob Cruger and Dr. Francis Moore.
On April 8, 1839, the Morning Star came into existence. Quite early
in its life this newspaper made the first suggestion for the systematic
improvement of the ship channel. Complaining of the shoals of Clop-
per s Bar (now off Morgan s Point), the Star advised: "If boats will
keep buoys along the lines of the channel over this bar, boats always
passing will rub the channel deep enough."
With its fast-growing importance as the capital of the young Re
public, Houston felt that its new dignity warranted a municipal govern
ment, and a gesture in that direction was undertaken. A volunteer
group, called the Protection Fire Company No. I, functioned on the
"bring-your-own-bucket" system until the city acquired its first fire
apparatus. This object of civic pride was a whisky barrel mounted
on a gig, and it is said that a mild epidemic of pyromania resulted from
curiosity to see the fire "engine" operate. The town was a yearling
before any semblance of a court of justice was set up. Disputed land
titles caused most of the trials of those days, with homicide cases run
ning a close second.
A tale which paints a striking picture of the place and period deals
with the first theatrical performance, in June, 1838, when a traveling
HOUSTON 293
company presented Sheridan Knowles The Hunchback, resulting in a
threatened battle between armed gamblers and infantry. A play of
light nature, The Dumb Belle, or I m Perfection, accompanied The
Hunchback. Local tradition says that President Houston and party,
who had been attending a dinner, were late in reaching the theater,
and that meantime the town s gamblers had occupied the seats reserved
for the guests and ignored an appeal from the stage to vacate them,
whereupon the sheriff came with some soldiers whom he lined up against
a wall. The gamblers promptly lined up opposite them. Sam Hous
ton, arriving before the showdown, issued an executive order for the
soldiers to stack their arms. The gamblers passed out of the door,
stopping long enough to get their money back, and the actors performed
to a quiet house.
In 1839 President Lamar caused the effects of the Republic of
Texas to be transferred to the new capitol at Austin. Public indigna
tion flared over the loss of the capital, except with the group most
interested in the town s commercial development. Houston had known
three years of turbulent government administration, exercised on a
highly personal basis when statesmen brawled with each other out
rageously, often without cause, and partisanship flamed high. The
removal of the capital thus permitted the town s promoters to center
attention upon business.
Farmers, cultivating their rich acres in the prairie area flanking
the town, looked to Houston for an outlet for their cotton, and that
commodity began to come down the bayou on barges and flatboats, the
loads picked up at deep water by seagoing vessels. The first local dock
was constructed in 1840. A city ordinance in 1841 established the
Port of Houston.
In July, 1840, the Telegraph and Texas Register reported that
"appropriate ceremonies . . . commemorated the commencement" of
the first projected railroad in Texas, which was to have been the Harris-
burg and Brazos, an unchartered road promoted by Andrew Briscoe, of
Harrisburg. After completing two miles of roadbed, Briscoe encoun
tered financial difficulty and was forced to abandon the project. The
Fifth Congress of the Republic of Texas granted a charter to the Harris-
burg Railroad and Trading Company, but again the project was aban
doned by its promoters.
Rich trade and agricultural production were developing in the back
country along the bottom lands of the Brazos. Many hundreds of
wagons, each requiring an average of 14 oxen, were engaged in trans
porting raw products to Houston and hauling merchandise back to the
interior.
A survey was made of Buffalo Bayou as far as Harrisburg, in 1846,
and Houstonians, unwilling for improvement of the channel to stop
1 6 miles below their shallow-water port, began to besiege the legis
lature, then sitting in Austin.
In 1847 General Sidney Sherman bought the properties of the
abandoned Harrisburg Railroad and Trading Company. By 1850 he
294 TEXAS
had a charter for the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad
its tidewater terminal to be Harrisburg, not Houston and had north
ern capital backing the project. In 1853 the road was completed from
Harrisburg to Stafford s Point, 20 miles southwestward, and great was
the exultation when the General Sherman t a 1 2-ton locomotive, finished
its initial run. The passenger coaches, second-hand streetcars from the
East, had only four wheels, and the General Sherman could not always
round curves without leaving the tracks, because both engine and tender
were on the same frame, but the completion of the railroad was a de
cided victory for transportation and for Harrisburg.
In 1850 Houston merchants formed the Houston Plank Road Com
pany to grade a thoroughfare to some point on the Brazos River, thus
making an all-weather route over which freighters and independent
farmers could haul to Houston at all seasons. This idea was discarded
w T hen the Houston and Texas Central began grading at Houston in
1853. Official recognition of the importance of a deep water channel
came in the same year, with an appropriation by the legislature of $4,000
for preliminary work on the Houston ship channel.
To connect Houston with the West, the Houston Tap and Brazoria
Railroad was begun in 1856, joining the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and
Colorado at Pierce s Junction. With the establishment of the Hous
ton Tap, the ambitious city s battle with Harrisburg was won, for the
Tap diverted to Houston the commerce in sugar and cotton that pre
viously had followed the Brazos line into Harrisburg. In 1858 the
Houston and Texas Central reached Hempstead, and by then a line
had been built by the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railway
which linked Houston with Galveston, 50 miles away.
Houston s natural handicaps, however, slowed its development for
years. Drainage was poor and rainfall heavy. The city suffered floods
and disastrous fires. In 1859 the downtown business district, bordered
by Main, Travis, Congress, and Preston Streets, was wiped out by a
conflagration originating in a carpenter shop. Two disastrous fires
occurred in 1860, one destroying $350,000 worth of property. There
were also serious recurrent epidemics.
The Civil War was almost ruinous to Texas railroads, but an
exception was the Houston and Texas Central, which was preserved
for military use. By 1868 the road had laid new rails, purchased new
rolling stock, and discharged all obligations.
Impetus for port improvement and channel deepening and widening
was under way. In 1869 the Buffalo Bayou Ship Channel Company
was organized, pledged to widen the bayou and make it navigable for
ships, a project for which citizens subscribed $100,000. Commodore
Charles Morgan, founder of the Morgan Lines, and sometimes called
"the father of the ship channel," in 1873 undertook private dredging
at Redfish Reef, and deepened the channel off Morgan s Point. Other
foresighted citizens saw the need of a deep water channel large enough
to accommodate modern steamships, although it involved serious finan
cial and engineering problems.
HOUSTON 295
In 1900 civic leaders went to Congress and after determined efforts
obtained approval for deepening the waterway to 1^/2 feet and for
construction of a harbor within the city limits. This work was carried
on from 1902 to 1905, but proved inadequate.
General cargo vessels found the new channel hazardous, and again
Houston went knocking at Uncle Sam s door, seeking an increase of
depth to 25 feet. Action was delayed until at length the Houston
Deepwater Committee appeared in force before the Rivers and Harbors
Committee of Congress and made the proposition to match dollars with
the Government on the cost. The offer was accepted and the work,
soon begun, was completed late in 1914.
The Harris County Ship Channel Navigation District and the city
completed the first public wharf in 1915, and regular Houston-New
York service was established. Recent statistics show 37 public and
private modern wharves which can accommodate 61 seagoing vessels.
The channel has a minimum bottom width of 150 feet with work
under way in 1940 to increase this to 200 feet, and the depth to 37 feet
at its shallowest point. The turning basin has a diameter of 1,100 feet.
The total cost of the project thus far has been about $18,000,000,
with an additional $8,500,000 for maintenance.
From the turning basin, which is the Port of Houston, the channel
extends down Buffalo Bayou through Galveston Bay to Bolivar Road
and the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles away. Lining the turning basin
and the channel is an extensive industrial area of oil refineries, cotton
compresses and other industrial plants, with an estimated water front
capital investment of $200,000,000. Houston exports an average of
more than 15,000,000 tons a year in ships of the 60 or more freight lines
usually calling at the port.
Nine oil refineries are directly connected with the ship channel,
a radial pipe line system bringing crude oil from as far as the Wyoming
field near Casper. There are more than 100 producing oil fields within
as many miles of Houston, and every phase of the oil industry is repre
sented in the city. Petroleum products comprise the largest proportion
of exports from the port, cotton ranks second, and scrap iron, sulphur,
lumber, rice, and other natural products play prominent parts.
Houston business leaders have gained national repute, among them
Jesse Holman Jones, lumberman, builder, financier and publisher, who
since 1933 has been chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corpora
tion, and since 1936, chairman of the advisory committee of the First
and Second Export-Import Banks, Washington, D. C., and John Henry
Kirby, developer of the Texas yellow pine industry, who is known
throughout the South as an industrialist.
During the rapid growth of Houston between 1915 and 1929, the
architectural and physical characteristics of the city began to change
in keeping with the general spirit of progress. A new era of more
pretentious houses developed during the I92o s. Architecture of the
Mount Vernon pattern became popular as did adaptations of the English
296 TEXAS
type and Dutch and French Colonial. Other types include Spanish
and Mediterranean, also early American and New England Colonial.
Houston s social and cultural character was molded early. Lamar s
Verse Memorials (1837) w n critical praise as the best volume of
poetry by a Texan of the pioneer period, although it was not discovered
until after his death in 1859. His "The Daughter of Mendoza" has
been included in anthologies of poetry.
Houston writers of note have included Mollie E. Moore Davis,
author of a number of novels and volumes of poetry, Sam Houston
Dixon, John Peter Sjolander, Andre Bourgeois, O. Henry (who wrote
for a time on the Houston Post), Andrew Jackson Houston (son of the
General), Margaret Bell Houston (granddaughter of the General),
Marie Millicent Dancy McClendon, Clarence R. Wharton, Louis W.
Kemp, Joseph Eugene Pillot, Judd Mortimer Lewis, Charles Curtis
Munz, Royal Dixon, Birdsall P. Briscoe, Harry Van Demark, William
Ward Watkin, Heinrich Meyer, A. D. McKillop, R. D. Tsanoff,
George Williams, Edgar Altenberg, George O. John, Joseph C.
Hutcheson, Jr., and Ray Wood.
Houston s group of artists includes Helen Cruikshank Davis, whose
miniatures have won her membership in the National Association of
Miniature Painters. Mrs. E. Richardson Cherry is known for her oil
paintings; Edward M. Schiwetz for his watercolors. Grace Spaulding
John and Frederic Browne have won recognition as painters in several
mediums. William M. McVey, sculptor, designed the large frieze
around the San Jacinto Monument, has a monument to James Bowie
at Texarkana, and one to David Crockett at Ozona; other noteworthy
work of his is on the bronze doors of the Texas Memorial Museum in
Austin, and the stonework on the approaches. Julian Muench has a
statue of David G. Burnet at Clarksville, and in 1939 a heroic-size
sundial, which he designed, was placed by the Daughters of the Republic
of Texas at the San Jacinto Battleground.
The Houston Symphony Orchestra, organized by Uriel Nespoli,
conducted for a number of years by Frank St. Leger, and more recently
by Ernest Hoffman, is maintained by public and private subscriptions.
POINTS OF INTEREST
i. The SITE OF THE CAPITOL OF TEXAS (1837-1839), 518
Main St., is marked by a plate near the Main Street entrance of the
Rice Hotel. The two-story frame building used by the Texas Congress
was remodeled after the seat of government was moved to Austin in
1839, and became the Capitol Hotel. In 1858, Anson Jones, last Presi
dent of the Republic of Texas, despondent over disappointments attend
ing the close of his political career, committed suicide in the building.
In the late 1870*5 the hotel was taken over by J. L. Barnes, famed
mixer of drinks, who named it the Barnes House. It was demolished
in 1882. On the site A. Groesbeck built the New Capitol Hotel,
considered a magnificent hostelry and patronized by many visiting
HOUSTON 297
notables. Later, William Marsh Rice acquired the place and named it
the Rice Hotel. In 1912, the structure was razed and the present
hotel constructed.
2. The SITE OF THE HOUSTON WHITE HOUSE OF THE
REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, SE. corner Main St. and Preston Ave., is
marked by a plate at the Main St. corner of the Scanlan Building. It
was a story-and-a-half frame dwelling with dormer windows, built by
Francis R. Lubbock in 1837. He sold it to the Republic of Texas
that same year for $6,000, for which promissory notes of the Republic
were given in lieu of cash. Presidents Sam Houston and Mirabeau B.
Lamar lived there during their administrations.
3. CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 1101-17 Texas Ave., in the
heart of downtown Houston, is one of the few local examples of
medieval Gothic architecture. J. A. Tempest was the architect. The
church, parish house, and educational building form a U-shaped group
covering a block frontage, with an open lawn in the center. The
church proper is overgrown with ivy, brought to Houston from West
minster Abbey some time between 1874 and 1884. This entire church
property is enclosed by a cast iron fence of nineteenth century type.
The site was donated by the Allen brothers and the church built in
1893 of bricks salvaged from a church erected in 1860.
4. The CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION, Roman Catholic,
601 Crawford St., is Romanesque in style, of limestone and cement
plaster with brown marble trim. The cornerstone was laid in April,
1869, and the building completed in 1871. The architect was Nicholas
J. Clayton. Marble altars, statues, stained glass windows, and a fresco
painting on the dome of the sanctuary combine to make the building
one of the architectural attractions of the city. The remainder of the
block is occupied by the Incarnate Word Academy, established in 1873
by Mother M. Gabriel and Sisters of the Incarnate Word.
5. The GULF BUILDING, 712 Main St., designed in the modern
style by Alfred C. Finn, architect, rises 37 stories on the old home site
of A. C. Allen. The lower part of the building is six stories high,
above which rises a square tower with set-backs in the upper stories,
pyramiding to a central shaft at the top. The lower part is faced
in a rough-textured limestone; the upper portion in buff-colored brick.
The verticality of the structure is emphasized by brick pilasters and
piers rising from base to top of each set-back. From the lobby with its
murals depicting Texas history, express elevators give access to the
OBSERVATORY TOWER (open 10-4:30 daily, adm. 25$), the highest point
in Houston from which to view the city and its environs.
6. SAM HOUSTON COLISEUM, 810 Bagby St., occupies the site
of Sam Houston Hall, built for the 1928 Democratic Convention. The
building is approximately three stories in height, spreading from a cen
tral stage in three immense wings. The two rear wings, extending an
entire block, form the Coliseum space, which has a seating capacity of
17,000. The front wing forms another auditorium that seats 2,700,
and the whole can be converted into a single amphitheater. The struc-
298 TEXAS
ture is along simple modern lines that depend largely on mass formation
for design. Facades on all sides are faced with a light buff-colored
brick topped with a shell limestone ornamental band. Alfred C. Finn
was the architect. Back of the Coliseum and designed to harmonize
with it is the Livestock Annex in which is provided space, 370 feet by
35 feet, for housing of cattle and horses during horse shows or rodeos.
7. The HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9 workdays; 2-6
Sun.., newspaper and periodical room}, 500 McKinney Ave., occupies
an entire block. The three-story building is in Spanish Renaissance
style, and was designed by Cram and Ferguson, of Boston, Massachu
setts, with Watkin and Glover, Houston, as associate architects. The
main entrance, a projecting pavilion faced in limestone, is three stories,
with inset marble columns. A circle-headed window is over the door
way, above this occurs a lunette panel, and on each side the second
story is divided by pilasters into ornamental window panels. Flanking
the pavilion on each side are three-story wings. The main body of
the building is faced in dark buff-colored brick with stone trim. The
historical room houses Texiana, the genealogical collections, and the
Circle M collection donated by Major John E. T. Milsaps, Salvation
Army traveler who gathered unusual and rare books and curios, chiefly
Americana.
A valuable asset is a collection donated by Miss Annette Finnigan,
consisting of 65 items showing the development of the book from the
twelfth century to modern times. Collected during Miss Finnigan s
foreign travels, the gift contains manuscripts written on vellum by
monks of the Middle Ages. One of the most costly is a Latin Vulgate
Edition of the Bible, once owned by William of Orange. Others are
a beautiful Flemish Book of Hours with many colored illuminations
and two manuscripts of the twelfth century. Incunabula include the
first Aldine edition of Caesar s Commentaries printed in Venice in 1513,
and an edition of Terence s Comedies published in Strasbourg in 1499,
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
HOUSTON DOWNTOWN. Points of Interest
i. Site of the Capitol of Texas (1837-1839)
2. Site of the Houston White House of the Republic of Texas
3. Christ Episcopal Church
4. Church of the Annunciation
5. Gulf Building
6. Sam Houston Coliseum
7. Houston Public Library
8. Sam Houston Park
9. Colored Carnegie Branch of the Houston Public Library
3OO TEXAS
also many other rare titles. The Finnigan objects are in curtained,
glass-enclosed cases on the first floor corridor leading from the lobby
to the auditorium.
The Philosophical Society of Texas, composed of pioneers, including
Mirabeau B. Lamar, wanted to awaken an interest in science and
literature; and as first president of the Philosophical Society, in 1838
Lamar inaugurated the library movement in Houston. The Houston
Lyceum, granted a charter in 1848, maintained a library, supporting
it by dues, subscriptions and donations, and in 1899 the city council
appropriated $200 a month for the library with the condition that
$150 of this be spent for books and that the library be free to the public.
The group became known as the Houston Lyceum and Carnegie
Library Association, and through a gift of $50,000 by Andrew Car
negie, a new building was erected. The present name was adopted in
1921, and five years later, the $500,000 building was completed.
The library has a total of 213,000 volumes, 165,000 of which are
in the main building, and 48,000 in four branches. There are four
sub-branches, and 16 other service agencies, including a "Traveling
Branch" which serves community centers by means of a bookmobile
equipped to carry 2,000 volumes.
8. SAM HOUSTON PARK, Dallas Ave. between Bagby St. and
Buffalo Drive, occupies 20 acres. Its wooded slopes have been artis
tically landscaped and are dotted with marked boulders and other
memorials of historic interest. The SHELTER HOUSE, L. of the Dallas
Avenue entrance, a storehouse, residence of the park caretaker, and a
public comfort station, was built of bricks made on Buffalo Bayou
shortly after the Battle of San Jacinto. It was later sold to Miss
Zerviah Kelley, from Connecticut, who conducted one of the city s first
private schools therein. She married A. W. Noble and six generations
of the family lived there, until the house was purchased by the city in
1898. The first zoo, consisting of a few animals, was established in
its back yard. Later the zoo was discontinued.
9. COLORED CARNEGIE BRANCH OF THE HOUSTON
PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 12-8:30 Mon.-Frl, 9-1 Sat.), 1112 Fred
erick St., was formerly (1913-21) the Colored Carnegie Library. The
two-story brick building, in addition to its library facilities, has an
auditorium which is used as a community center. Negro art works
and handicrafts are exhibited at intervals.
10. FOUNDERS MEMORIAL PARK, 1217 W. Dallas Ave., estab
lished as the city cemetery shortly after the founding of Houston by
the Allen brothers, is in the midst of one of Houston s most congested
Negro districts.
For years it was neglected. Early in 1936, the San Jacinto Cen
tennial Association began the cemetery s restoration. The plot was
fenced and landscaped, weather-worn gravestones set up, and beautiful
monuments erected by the State over the graves of John K. Allen,
members of his family, veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto, and others
prominent in the Republic.
HOUSTON 3OI
11. JEFFERSON DAVIS HOSPITAL, 1801 Buffalo Drive, is a
13-story buff brick building, designed in the modern style by Alfred C.
Finn, architect, and depending largely on its mass proportions for
design. It is dedicated to the care of city and county charity patients,
and has a bed capacity of 550. The hospital was erected in 1936-37
with funds provided by the Public Works Administration, the City of
Houston, and Harris County. A tunnel connects the main building
with a seven-story nurses home, containing accommodations for 151
nurses, teaching and demonstration rooms, laboratories, and a library.
On the fifth floor of the main building is a psychopathic ward contain
ing five cells for criminals being treated while under restraint.
12. HOUSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (open 9-5 workdays,
2-6 holidays), NW. corner of S. Main St. and Montrose Blvd., occu
pies a landscaped triangle of ground facing Hermann Park. Opened
in 1924, it was the first museum in Texas and the third in the South
west to be used exclusively for art. Framed by a leafy fretwork of
towering oak trees overshadowing landscaped lawns, the facade of classic
Greek design, adorned with tall Ionic columns, gives access to the
L-shaped building of white Indiana limestone and stucco. The archi
tect was William Ward Watkin.
Among the works of art is the Annette Finnigan collection, includ
ing many objects obtained from ancient tombs of Greece; painted
wooden sculptures of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, acquired
in Spain a few days before the Civil War caused destruction of similar
rarities; Egyptian antiquities covering a period of 4,000 years; Byzan
tine crosses; Indian and Persian textiles; ancient Greek jewelry; and
Spanish ecclesiastical furniture. Exceptionally rare are two fifteenth
century Lombard panels, a seventeenth century Vargueno desk of wal
nut, and a gold Grecian crown of laurel design, fourth century B. C.
one of the only two known to be in existence, the other being in a Berlin
museum. The permanent art collection consists of 824 items valued
at more than $243,000. These are supplemented by an annual loan
of 20 local, State, national, or international exhibits.
Activities of the museum include the Museum School of Art, free
Key to Map on the Following Two Pages.
HOUSTON. Points of Interest
10. Founders Memorial Park
n. Jefferson Davis Hospital
12. Houston Museum of Fine Arts
13. Rice Institute
14. Hermann Park
15. University of Houston
MEMORIAL PARK
To:
Minor Stewart Airport
Angieton
HOUSTON
1940
LEGEND
US., State Highways
Connecting Streets
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
Railroads Golfing
Airport City Boundary
Other Property
To: l|5
Galveston
To:
Houston Airport
Corpus Christi
Galveston
304 TEXAS
art instruction for talented children, lectures, library research, technical
advice upon works of art and art matters, and a public musical program
on Sunday afternoons from November to April. Maintained prin
cipally by private donations and endowment funds, the museum also
receives an annual appropriation from the City of Houston.
13. RICE INSTITUTE, 6000 S. Main St., on a 3OO-acre landscaped
campus, is a hedge-enclosed area of red-roofed buildings and courts
surrounded by groves of live oak and cypress. It is coeducational and
nonsectarian. The program emphasizes science study and offers degrees
in civil, electrical, chemical, mechanical, and architectural engineering.
Annual enrollment is limited to 400 new students, whose selection is
determined by scholastic ability and record of application. Enrollment
averages about 1,300 students.
William Marsh Rice, the founder, -was born in Springfield, Massa
chusetts, in 1816, and came to Houston in the late 1830*8. He died
in 1900, having endowed the institute, which was formally opened in
1912. The present value of property and equipment is estimated in
excess of $14,000,000.
The buildings were designed by Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, of
New York, and erected under the direction of William Ward Watkin,
who remained in Houston as head of the school of architecture. The
style is a blending of Byzantine, Moorish, Italian and Spanish forms,
to which is added an almost indefinable touch of Gothic.
The approach to the Administration Building is through one of
four entrances facing South Main Street. The architectural design of
this building reflects the influence of early Mediterranean countries in
the employment of Dalmatian brickwork with Spanish and Italian
details of design. Texas granite, local pink brick and delicately tinted
marble from the Ozarks give the building a warm gray tone, relieved
by variations of tile and foreign marble. Other buildings follow this
defined style. The vaulted opening of the Administration Building
frames a vista of campus more than a mile long. The LIBRARY (open
8-5 Mon.-Fri. t 8-1 Sat.), in the north wing, contains 130,000 volumes,
chiefly on scientific research.
The Physics Laboratories adjoin the Administration Building on
the north side of the court. Beyond is another court, where stands
the STATUE OF WILLIAM MARSH RICE, whose ashes are entombed in
the base. Across the lawns and to the right are the Chemistry Labora
tories, and just beyond, the Mechanical Laboratory, whose lofty cam
panile commands the immediate horizon, and the Machine Shop and
Power House, all belonging to the Engineering group.
14. HERMANN PARK, S. Main St. between Hermann Ave. and
Marlborough Drive, is a 545-acre natural park named for George H.
Hermann, donor of part of its site. The park has miles of windine
scenic driveways. At the main entrance is a bronze equestrian STATUE
OF GENERAL SAM HOUSTON, the work of Enrico Filberto Cerracchio.
Sam Houston s son, Colonel Andrew Jackson Houston, sought to pre
vent unveiling ceremonies on the ground that the statue in no way resem-
HOUSTON 3O5
bled his father. The statue was unveiled, however, with appropriate
ceremonies, in 1924. Beyond is the MILLER MEMORIAL THEATER, used
by educational societies and clubs for the presentation of plays and pag
eants. It was erected at a cost of $50,000 from the $75,000 bequest of
Jesse Wright Miller to the City of Houston.
HERMANN PARK Zoo (open 9-7 daily, except Afon.), contains more
than 1,700 specimens, ranging in variety from a Java fish owl and
Texas albino flying squirrel to lions, tigers, and elephants. Board
walks, bordered by palms and evergreen camphor trees, traverse the
3O-acre oval. Facing the entrance is a huge bird cage, beyond which
is the MUSEUM O,F NATURAL HISTORY (open g-j daily, except Mon.),
housed in a one-story building of white stucco, with red-tiled roof. The
important exhibits are the Milsaps collection of coins and miscellaneous
objects; the Fisher botanical collection, including 800 Texas specimens;
the Westheimer group of minerals and miscellaneous objects; and the
Meigs display of handicrafts from Ecuador. A violet-ray machine is
available for bringing out vivid rainbow colors from the mineral ex
hibits. Among the mounted specimens is the head of Black Diamond,
elephant executed at Kenedy, Texas, in 1929, after a record of killing
nine persons while touring the country with a circus.
15. The UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, Wheeler Ave. between
St. Bernard St. and McRae Ave., consists of the Roy Gustav Cullen
Memorial Building (Fine Arts and Cultural Building), and the Science
Building, first units of a proposed group. The buildings are of rein
forced concrete faced with Texas limestone, designed in the modern
style of Lamar Q. Cato. Future units will include those of industrial
training, dramatic arts and music, physical education, library, stadium,
bathhouse, recreation shelter, an outdoor theater and student and faculty
center. The project also calls for a swimming pool, sand beach, bowl
ing green, tennis courts and softball courts.
The university is a community service senior college under control
of the Board of Education and the Houston Independent School Dis
trict. It was created to fill a need for additional educational and train
ing facilities in the city.
At the close of the first academic year in 1935, without permanent
buildings of its own and temporarily housed in a high school, but with
1,500 students enrolled, the university was awarded a Class A univer
sity rating. Many of its classes are conducted between 4 P.M. and
10 P.M. to enable employed persons to attend. Special courses are
offered for persons not having prerequisites for accredited college work.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
San Jacinto Battlefield and State Park, 22 m. (see Tour 6 A}.
KC<KKCC
fftffte*
JLaredo
Railroad Stations: 2116 Farragut St. for Missouri Pacific Lines and Texas
Mexican Ry. ; Santa Rita Ave. and Coke St. for Rio Grande & Eagle Pass Ry.
All Mexican National Railway transfers are made over the international
Railroad Bridge at the foot of Santa Isabel Ave.
Bus Station: 1405 Farragut St. for Southwestern Greyhound Lines, Inc., Win
ter Garden Bus Line, Union Bus Lines, and Transporte del Norte (to points in
Mexico).
City Busses: Fare 5^; transfer 2^.
Taxis: Fare 25^, i to 3 persons.
International Foot Bridge: foot of Convent Ave.; toll ^ to 15^ a car, plus <>$
for each passenger; pedestrians, $$; return tolls about one-third less, depend
ing on rate of exchange.
Traffic Regulations: One-way streets ; E. traffic on Lincoln St., between Juarez
Ave. and San Bernardo Ave.; W. traffic on Hidalgo St. between San Bernardo
and Juarez St.; N. traffic on San Agustin Ave., between Grant and Farragut
Sts. ; S. *raffic on S. Flores Ave. between Grant and Farragut Sts. Parking
not allowed in business district after midnight.
Accommodations: 10 hotels; tourist camps and lodges.
Information Service: Laredo Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton Hotel; Laredo
Branch, American Automobile Association, Magnolia Bldg., Matamoros St. and
Convent Ave., also branch at San Bernardo Ave. and Matamoros St.
Golf: Casa Blanca Country Club, Seymour Ave., 9 holes, 35^ weekdays, 50^
Sun. and holidays.
Tennis: Casa Blanca Country Club, 25^ a day.
Motion Picture Houses: 5.
Annual Events: International Washington s Birthday Celebration, week of
Feb. 22; Border Olympics, second week in March.
LAREDO (438 alt., pop. 1930 U.S. Census, 32,618; est. pop. 1940,
35,000) is an important port of entry on the Mexican border, through
which half a million tourists pass annually along the Pan American
Highway to Mexico City. Sixty per cent of all freight that crosses
the International border is handled through the Laredo port. North
of the city, extensive irrigation from tha Rio Grande has transformed
an area of once arid cattle land into a fertile agricultural valley in
which vegetables, especially onions, comprise the chief revenue crop.
Toward the east the country is level and adapted especially to grazing,
hence Laredo has its share of the southwestern cattle industry. Approxi
mately 85 per cent of its residents are of Mexican descent.
The modern city, grown from a small Spanish settlement, every
where gives evidence of its Mexican influence, both past and present.
Its business district of white face brick and stone buildings dazzlingly
reflects the sunshine and gives emphasis to an atmosphere of cleanliness.
The narrow thoroughfares of the congested area are paved with brick
306
LAREDO 307
and creosoted blocks. Streets of the business section give way abruptly
to wide avenues of fine residences or, in some directions, to older side
streets of adobe huts and squat houses of limestone. For the most part
these interesting structures are in fine repair despite their age. Modern
buildings sit side by side with drab jacales whose windows and door
casings are painted in splashes of brilliant color. Inevitably there are
flowers, sometimes a tiny square of garden, again a few rusted but
precious tin cans of potted plants.
Grapefruit and orange trees grow along the public highways and
in the yards of residences, although citrus fruits are not raised com
mercially. Oranges ripen on grounds surrounding the City Hall in the
heart of the city, and on Jarvis Plaza in front of the Post Office.
Palmettos and date palms are common, as are the huisache, mesquite,
mulberry and pomegranate. Predominant in the flower gardens are
roses, geraniums and, in springtime, bluebonnets. Daisies grow wild
amid the bluebonnets. Ligustrums and oleanders are popular shrubs,
and bougainvillaea flourishes.
The international tone of the city is manifest everywhere. Display
signs, placards and window posters printed in Spanish are seen more
often than those in English. School children recite in English but
their playtime is marked by vociferous staccato exchanges as they lapse
into the "border lingo," an English-Spanish hybrid which seems to come
naturally to those whose diction is acquired partly from the parents
and partly from the school teacher. During the annual Washington s
Birthday celebration, Nuevo Laredo, across the border, participates,
and both cities are crowded with visitors. Side by side march the Span
ish-Mexican, the Indian-Mexican, the Latin- and Anglo-American in
parades. These elements play equal parts in a three-day whirl of
gayety. Nuevo Laredo supplies no small part of the entertainment,
the feature of which is the bullfights.
Laredo was one of the first settlements in Texas not established as
a presidio or a mission. It was the sixth to be founded along the lower
Rio Grande, and the second community on the north bank of the river.
Don Jose de Escandon, Count of Sierra Gorda, and colonizer of the
region, reported the site suitable for settlement in 1755, designating it
as "ten leagues northwest of Dolores, at Paso de Jacinto."
Tomas Sanchez, Spanish ranchman, offered to found a settlement
at his own expense, and to maintain a ferry for "the convenience of
traffic and the royal service." For this he asked a grant of 15 sitios
of land. Escandon approved the plan and appointed Sanchez captain
of the settlement, granting him 15 sitios de ganado mayor (15 square
leagues of range land), for the use of himself and the settlers.
On May 15, 1755, with three or four families, Tomas Sanchez
formally founded the Villa de Laredo. The settlement prospered and
by 1757 included n families, numbering 85 persons. One thing, how
ever, marred the satisfaction and comfort of the people. The only
religious solace and administration they had consisted of an annual visit
of Father Miguel de Santa Maria of Revilla. Although overworked
308 TEXAS
in his own parish, the priest once a year made the 44-league round trip
to minister to the people of Villa de Laredo. For this he received the
equivalent of 30 pesos (dollars) "in kind" produce of some sort.
Unable to support a priest of their own, the people of Laredo asked
the king to supply this need, but nothing was done. The settlement
continued to thrive ; recognition of its importance is found in the report
of Lopez de la Camara Aha in 1758. He said, "This town is important
and should be increased in size as a means of communication between
the interior provinces and Texas." From it roads led to Monclova,
Dolores, La Bahia, San Antonio de Bexar, and Revilla.
The lack of religious administration was remedied by the Bishop
of Guadalajara in 1759. On his way back to Mexico from La Bahia
the bishop spent three days in Laredo and administered baptism and
confirmation to many. He was so deeply impressed by "deplorable
spiritual conditions" that his report described the people as "living like
heathens, neither hearing Mass nor the Word of God." A secular
priest was at once ordered to Laredo.
The settlement grew in population and importance, until at the
turn of the eighteenth century the residents numbered approximately
I, (XX).
Laredo saw Santa Anna s army in 1835-36, while it was on its way
to attack the Alamo, and, later, the retreat of the defeated Mexican
forces in the weeks following the Battle of San Jacinto. Disagreement
over the southern boundary of the Republic of Texas placed Laredo
in a "no man s land." The Republic s authority did not extend to the
Rio Grande, but in 1837 Captain Erastus (Deaf) Smith marched there
with a force of 20 men, "with the intention of raising the flag of inde
pendence on the spire of the church at Laredo." A force of Mexican
cavalry met him five miles northeast of the town, and although they
withdrew after 45 minutes of fighting, Smith considered himself too
greatly outnumbered to proceed.
Ranger Captain John C. (Jack) Hays rode into Laredo in 1841
with his company but remained only a short time, and it was more
than a year later that General Alexander Somervell reached there in
pursuit of General Woll following the latter s raid on San Antonio.
Somervell met no resistance but his troops pillaged the town, an act
for which the General wrote a letter of apology to the alcalde of Laredo
on December 9, 1842.
The Mexican War brought troops to Laredo in 1846, when the
town was occupied by Captain R. A. Gillespie s company of Texas
Rangers, who were on their way to join General Zachary Taylor at
Brownsville. The following year, General Mirabeau Buonaparte
Lamar with his small army was stationed in Laredo ; during the two
years that Lamar occupied the town, Webb County was organized. A
declaration was made by the Texas general that an election would be
held on July 13, 1847, m which "all free citizens of this place, and
twenty-one years of age, will be entitled to vote." This was the first
election held in Laredo under the laws of Texas.
LAREDO 309
In 1849 the United States Government established Camp Crawford
(later Fort Mclntosh) beside an old ford which was being used by
smugglers. That year Laredo watched thousands of gold-hungry immi
grants pass along the Rio Grande route to the California gold fields.
They stopped to rest and replenish their supplies, and for a time the
community felt the impetus of its first boom.
Laredo was chartered as a Texas city in 1852, and progressed nor
mally and uneventfully until the outbreak of the Civil War. Con
federate forces occupied the vacated Fort Mclntosh under General
Santos Benavides and held it until the close of the conflict; General
Benavides was a grandson of Don Tomas Sanchez.
The advent of two railroads, one from Corpus Christi in 1880 and
the other from Mexico in 1881, put an end to Laredo s isolation and
opened a large part of the Mexican markets to Texas. Ten years
later, with irrigation, farmers placed the arid river valley under cul
tivation. By 1890, Laredo was described as a "very plain city" whose
prevailing style of architecture utilized stone or sun-dried brick walls
and thatched roofs. The city nevertheless had a police department
composed, in equal numbers, of "Mexicans and Americans" and the
customs house was reporting great volumes of merchandise.
The beginning of Laredo s onion industry is credited to Thomas C.
Nye who, in 1898, bought land four miles north of the city, along
the railroad tracks, and began irrigating from the Rio Grande. By
1906, 500 carloads of Bermuda onions were shipped. Later the Laredo
Truck Growers Association was formed. As many as 2,000 carloads
of onions have been shipped in peak years. The discovery of natural
gas in 1908, and of large oil pools in 1921, led to stimulation of indus
trial development.
Among Laredo s principal imports from across the border are grain,
cottonseed, vegetables and other raw products; but the most distinctive
item is the annual shipment of approximately 25,000 quail. These
birds are trapped in Mexico and shipped throughout the United States
for restocking game preserves. The principal exports are mining and
agricultural machinery, electrical appliances, and large quantities of
shoes and clothing. Laredo has an important antimony smelter (see
Industry, Commerce, and Labor}.
The two most important industries are oil refining and shipping.
There are several large plants where Mexican limes are packed for
distribution throughout the United States, brick and tile factories and
an important straw hat factory. Tourists bring an estimated annual
income of more than a quarter of a million dollars to Laredo s retail
establishments.
POINTS OF INTEREST
i. The SHINER CACTUS NURSERY (open 8-8 daily), 3201 San
Bernardo Ave., a commercial nursery housed in a stucco building of
Spanish design, has thousands of varieties of cactus ranging from the
3IO TEXAS
giant ribbed Old Man of the Mountain," sometimes 35 feet high,
with sharp spines hidden by long white hairs, to fragile blooming
orchid-like plants, and others so tiny that they have to be handled with
tweezers.
2. U. S. BORDER PATROL QUARTERS (open 8:30-5 Mon.-
/>/"., 8:30-12 Sat.), NE. corner Poggenpohl St. and Santa Rita Ave.,
a stucco building with log railings about its surrounding porch, has an
unusual type of interior decoration in the arrangement of broken pieces
of chinaware and glass of various colors used even to make a bath
tub and a bed. The artistic work was done by Mexican-Indian laborers.
Doors and windows are framed in the peculiar mosaic, and a canopy
is created over the main doorway. Wall "paintings" of the gleaming
material adorn the rooms and weird, but lifelike reproductions of plants
and animals are scattered everywhere.
3. The INDIAN CROSSING, slightly N. of the river end of Bruni
St., is a ledge of limestone rock lying just below the surface of the
water, and in dry seasons becomes exposed. It was known to the Indian
tribes for centuries before the white men found it, and even later
they used it to cross cattle and horses, usually stolen from settlers.
When Texas joined the Union a high bluff overlooking the crossing
was selected by the Government for a military camp, at first called
Camp Crawford. High up on the bluff are the ruined earthen walls
of this first fort.
4. FORT McINTOSH (open daily, no adm. to buildings without
permits; visitors must stop for inspection at gate), W. end of Victoria
St., adjoins the site of the older Fort Mclntosh (Camp Crawford), one
of the line of defensive forts established along the Rio Grande and
the western frontier at the close of the Mexican War. The old post,
a star-shaped earthwork, was occupied on March 3 of that year as
Camp Crawford. The name was changed to Fort Mclntosh some
ten months later. In 1858 the post was temporarily abandoned, the
troops returning in 1859. Following the surrender of the Department
of Texas by General David E. Twiggs at the outbreak of the Civil War,
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
LAREDO. Points of Interest
1. Shiner Cactus Nursery
2. U. S. Border Patrol Quarters
3. Indian Crossing
4. Fort Mclntosh
5. Texas Harvest Hat Company Plant
6. Martin Plaza
7. International Foot Bridge
LAREDO
1940
LEGEND
(35 US. Highways
Connecting Streets
?=t Bridges -Railroads
wCreek,River mm Parks
5) Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
Military Reservation
SC ,S le y.
4
B
To:
Eagle Pass
San Antonio
nternational
Bridge
NUEVO
LAREDO
X C
312 TEXAS
the post was evacuated by Federal soldiers on April II, 1861. It was
occupied by Texas State troops and maintained as a Confederate gar
rison until the close of the war. Federals, advancing up the Rio
Grande from Fort Brown, made an unsuccessful attack on the fort in
1863. After the war, Federal forces reoccupied the post on October
23, 1865.
Buildings for a new fort were begun in 1868, and completed in
1877. During the border troubles of 1916-17, National Guard troops
from Maine, New Hampshire, Missouri and Florida were stationed
at or adjacent to the fort. The present area of 208 acres contains
buildings mostly of frame but includes older structures of stone, brick
and adobe, representing various periods of expansion. Two of them,
Quarters 14 and 28, date back to 1868. The buildings are painted
yellow with a white trim, and the grounds have trees, mostly evergreens,
lawns and shrubbery. The garrison in 1940 consisted of the 8th Engi
neer Squadron with an authorized strength of 306 officers and men.
Medical, Veterinary, Quartermaster, Signal Corps and Ordnance de
tachments brought the total personnel to 355.
5. The TEXAS HARVEST HAT COMPANY PLANT (open 9-5
workdays}, SW. corner San Agustin Ave. and Washington St., is housed
in a conventional tile and brick factory building, M. S. Ryan, architect.
Hats received in bales from Mexico, the East Indies and China, are
shaped on 200 different molds. Other interesting processes are the
manufacturing of hats from straw braid, and their enameling with
spray guns.
6. MARTIN PLAZA, between Flores and San Agustin Aves., extend
ing from Grant to Zaragoza Sts., was the scene of an encounter between
two political factions of 1886, La Bota (the boot) and El Huarache
(the sandal) over the administration of city affairs. Several persons
were killed and wounded in the affray, known in local history as "April
the Seventh." The plaza has the usual bandstand in the center, around
which the promenade, an old Mexican custom, prevails. Around the
circular walks, on Thursday and Sunday evenings from 8-10, the young
men and girls stroll in opposite directions. Eyeing all the maids as
they pass, a swain will choose his favorite and nod. If he is favorably
received, the couple will leave the promenade and stroll together. That
many gather to watch does not seem to abash the principals.
7. Over the INTERNATIONAL FOOT BRIDGE (toll rate ^
for one-seated car, 15$ for two-seated car, $$ additional a passenger;
pedestrians, $ ; return tolls approximately one-third less, depending on
rate of exchange] , at the foot of Convent Ave., passes an almost con
tinual stream of tourists. Bitter experience with raging Rio Grande
floods, which at times have submerged the bridge until only the tops
of the high lamp-posts were visible, led to the construction of removable
aluminum railings. When floods threaten, only 30 minutes are required
to carry the side sections to safety. Stripped in this manner, the bridge
presents virtually no obstruction to the current and its floating debris,
which in the past has impounded the waters and flooded Nuevo Laredo.
LAREDO 313
Even the monumental plaque in honor of "The Womanhood of All
the Americas," placed in the middle of the bridge by the Pan American
Round Table, is made of aluminum and is removable.
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo (25,000 pop.), State of Tamaulipas, Mexico, across
the Rio Grande from Laredo, has several small plazas, large casinos
and cafes, and numerous curio shops along its main streets.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The MEAT MARKET, 3 blocks S. of the bridge on .the Pan
American Highway, is a typical market place of Mexico. Covering an
entire block, it houses venders of meats, vegetables, fruits, and exotic
foods; these things are sold or displayed along with costly jewelry, rare
perfumes, less expensive pottery, basketware, flowers, including gar
denias for as little as 2^ each, and garish souvenirs copied from Aztec
art. In an area near the center of the market is a spring at whose over
flow stray dogs come to drink. A gambling wheel in this district
attracts not only the older men and idlers but also young boys.
The CURIO SHOPS AND SIDEWALK STANDS, extending
S. of the International Foot Bridge for approximately four blocks, dis
play Mexican curios, including an excellent assortment of earthenware,
baskets, sombreros, sarapes and other native handiwork. These shops
are open day and night. The blare of a radio loud speaker is some
times heard, but more frequently the subdued strumming of guitars
and the songs of wandering troubadours who gather at street corners,
in cafes, and in the shadows of the market to sing the folk songs of
old Mexico. Dressed in charro costumes, including gay sombreros,
embroidered sarapes and velvet pantaloons, the serenaders always are
the center of a throng.
Port Arthur
Railroad Stations: Houston Ave. at foot of Procter St. for Kansas City South
ern Ry. ; 449 7th St. for Southern Pacific Lines.
Bus Stations: 327 Austin Ave. for Southwestern Greyhound Lines, P. & G. Bus
Line, Beaumont-Port Arthur Bus Line, and Coastal Coaches, Inc.; 1048 Procter
St. for Sabine-Neches Stages, Inc.
City Busses: Fare 5^, transfer i^.
Taxis: Fare 50^ from i to 25 blocks; 75^ from 26 to 38 blocks; $i for
greater distances within city limits.
Traffic Regulations: i- and 2-hour parking limit in business district, where
so marked, 8-6; all-night parking on paved streets prohibited.
Accommodations: 12 hotels, i for Negroes; 6 tourist lodges.
Information Service: Sabine-Neches Automobile Association (American Auto
mobile Association) and Chamber of Commerce, Adams Bldg., Austin Ave. and
5th St.
Radio Station: KPAC (1220 kc.).
Athletics: Yellow Jacket Stadium, Stadium Rd., i block N. of Dryden Rd. ;
Y.M.C.A., 448 Lake Shore Dr., softball and basketball.
Fishing: Salt water fishing in Lake Sabine. Deep sea fishing also available.
Svnmming: Port Arthur Pleasure Pier (municipal), Austin Ave. and Lake
Shore Dr., free.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Memorial Armory Auditorium, 1048
Lake Shore Dr., local productions and occasional road shows; 6 motion picture
houses, 2 for Negroes.
Annual Events: Rose Club s Rose Show and Flower Exhibit, May; Houston-
Port Arthur Cruise, date varies.
PORT ARTHUR (4 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 50,902; est. pop.
1940, 48,000), connected with the Gulf of Mexico by an inland ship
canal and a deep water channel, ranks ninth among United States ports,
and is an important shipping center of the greatest oil refining district
in the world.
Set in the midst of salt marshes, rice fields, and grass-covered flats,
on the northwest shore of Lake Sabine, the city is surrounded by approxi
mately 15 miles of dikes extending in a great U to hold back the
waters of adjacent bayous. North and west are the great oil refineries
and their storage tank farms. At the southwest are the docks and
warehouses at which tankers and freighters entering from the Sabine-
Neches Canal load and unload side by side with barges from the Intra-
coastal Canal. The business of these wharves is a great commerce
which in 1939 totaled 19,286,486 tons of imports and exports.
The ship canal, separated from Lake Sabine by a narrow strip of
reclaimed land, is an avenue of traffic not only for Port Arthur but
for most of the ports along the Texas coast. At the southern end of
Port Arthur, the Sabine-Neches Canal and the Intracoastal Canal join.
314
PORT ARTHUR 315
The same channel serves both shipways up to a point a few miles south
of Orange, where the Intracoastal Canal turns sharply into Louisiana.
This waterway is invisible at a short distance and, as buildings
are constructed near the water front, the slow-moving freighters seem
to be slipping silently through city streets as their stacks and masts
are seen above the trees and houses. At Austin Avenue a $300,000
bascule-type bridge is raised to permit the passage of ships, and gives
access to Pleasure Pier, one of the city s park developments.
Within three blocks of the bridge is the business district, dominated
by a i4O-foot water tower with 3OO,ooo-gallon capacity, furnishing an
ample supply for Port Arthur and its suburbs to the north and east.
The city s tallest buildings are the Sabine and Goodhue Hotels, each
of ten stories. No one style of architecture predominates ; modern and
modified early American, and adaptations of Spanish and Moorish types
are popular.
Over a period of 45 years Port Arthur has steadily covered itself
with exotic plants, shrubs, and trees, until its present appearance is in
many respects tropical. Along the streets are palms, American holly,
southern magnolia, live oak, Chinese tallow, camphor and eucalyptus
trees. These are many landscaped esplanades, and everywhere are blos
soms especially, in their seasons, oleanders, crepe myrtles, asters and
poinsettias. Roses are extensively cultivated, particularly in the city s
23 park areas, covering 279 acres.
Port Arthur has a city manager-commission system of government.
Civic improvements planned in 1940 included the development of an
amusement center at Pleasure Pier, also an airport, a seaplane base and
a park. These will occupy a reclaimed lake bed rimmed by a sea wall
which protects $32,000,000 worth of city property from possible floods.
Like all busy seaports, Port Arthur has a cosmopolitan flavor. On
its sidewalks are sailors from many a foreign port, rivermen clad in
boots and khaki, sun-tanned cattlemen, refinery workers, fishermen,
longshoremen, and well-dressed businessmen. The Mexican population
is small. Other foreign groups include Italians, Germans, English,
Canadians, Irish, French, Syrians and Dutch. Consulates are main
tained by Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Haiti,
Norway, Honduras and Holland.
About 20 per cent of the population is Negro. These people have
their own business and residential areas centering along yth Street
and extending west, covering roughly 50 city blocks. Besides commer
cial establishments, the Negro belt contains two theaters, 18 churches,
the 12-grade Lincoln School and a Negro parochial school. The men
are mostly longshoremen and roustabouts along the docks, although
many are employed by the refineries; the women are chiefly laundresses
or domestics. Negro professional men are relatively few in number.
History in the region of Port Arthur dates back to the sixteenth cen
tury, when a storm swept the expedition of Hernando de Soto ashore
on July 25, 1543, in the vicinity of Lake Sabine. French traders and
trappers frequented these lands from about the time that New Orleans
3l6 TEXAS
was founded. From Mexico, Spanish officials heard frequently of these
French incursions and sent various expeditions to expel them. The
English made at least one attempt to penetrate the Sabine area. An
English merchantman ran aground near the mouth of the Neches River
in Lake Sabine (1777) and was abandoned, to be found later by the
apprehensive Spaniards. Trappers from St. Louis appeared during the
early iSoo s, and Jean Lafitte, who operated from Galveston Island
between 1817 and 1821, frequently sent his buccaneers to the lower
Sabine region to trade Spanish doubloons for food.
Who the earliest settlers were along Lake Sabine has never been
chronicled. Soon after Mexico won independence from Spain (1821),
its leaders, fearing Anglo-American designs on the vast Texas area,
enacted laws prohibiting foreigners from settling near the coast without
official permission. But when empresarios obtained colonization grants,
many settlers arrived in the Sabine area under the contract of Lorenzo
de Zavala, whose grant was issued in March, 1829. Other colonizers
of the region were Joseph Vehlein and David Burnet. A young English
immigrant, Thomas Courts, in 1829 established his home southwest of
modern Port Arthur, on De Zavala s grant. Others followed Courts
and settlements were established. One, called Aurora, on Lake Sabine,
failed to survive, and the other, City of the Pass, later became Sabine
City.
John Sparks, a native of Tennessee, in 1836 began a long overland
journey by ox team with his wife and two small children. Reaching
Pavell s Island in 1838, Sparks soon inaugurated ferry service on Tay
lor s Bayou, and built a house on a site now occupied by the Gulf Oil
Corporation Refinery. He prospered and by 1853 had saved the money
to buy two parcels of land fronting on Lake Sabine. Here he built
his home.
The Sparks settlement for a time was called Aurora in memory
of the older colony which had failed to take root. After an epidemic
in 1885, a hurricane ravaged the region and virtually all families moved
nearer to Beaumont. By 1895, Aurora and the shores of Lake Sabine
were deserted save for the alligators, the curlew and the plover. Yet
before that year had ended the modern city of Port Arthur was born.
Its development became the dream of a promoter who had unlimited
resources and who, on a hunch, resolved to establish a rail and shipping
terminus here. This man was Arthur Edward Stilwell, scion of a
wealthy pioneer New York family. He had been an insurance sales
man, was the builder of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad
(now the Kansas City Southern), and had become head of a million-
dollar organization at the age of 28.
Arthur Stilwell believed in hunches and supernatural creatures
which he whimsically called "Brownies," and maintained that his
"Brownies" had urged him to choose the Port Arthur site when he was
looking around for a Gulf terminus for his railroad. He claimed that
he was able, in his dreams, to envision Port Arthur, exact in all detail,
as it was subsequently developed. Later he wrote that this city was
PORT ARTHUR 317
the only one "ever located and built under directions from the spirit
world ... so recognized and acknowledged."
Having fixed upon the Lake Sabine shores as the site of his dream
city, in 1895 Stilw^ell caused a town site to be surveyed which he named
Port Arthur in his honor. The Port Arthur Townsite and Land Com
pany and the Port Arthur Canal and Dock Company immediately be
gan construction of a ship canal, docks and streets and business houses.
Stilwell s interests built a railway whose only traffic was in freighting
supplies from Beaumont to the booming new town.
A widespread advertising campaign throughout the country attracted
many homeseekers, businessmen and financial interests. Among the
newcomers were two publishers who simultaneously began preparations
to give the town its first newspaper. The publisher of the Port Arthur
Herald arrived two weeks earlier than the man who was launching the
News. On March 17, 1897, local residents saw the first Herald, and
on the same day the News was printed in the baggage car of a train
nearing the town. Thus prospective residents saw the Port Arthur
News first while the established settlers got the Herald. In September
of that year, w r hile Stilwell was in the North, a hurricane ravaged Port
Arthur and Stilwell at once dispatched a trainload of workers and
supplies and sent $15,000 to hasten rehabilitation and reconstruction.
By the end of 1897 tne town had 1,100 residents, and in March,
1898, it voted to incorporate. After many delays due to opposition
from Sabine Pass promoters the Kountze interests the canal was
opened on March 25, 1899. Five months later the British ship, St.
Oswald, drawing 17 feet of water, docked at the grain elevator, the
first steamship to reach Port Arthur. By this time Stilwell, his money
spread over his labyrinthine enterprises, found himself in need of finan
cial aid. Into the breach stepped the second of Port Arthur s colorful
promoters, John Warne Gates, better remembered as Wall Street s
"Bet-a-Million" Gates.
Gates and Stilwell had met before they joined interests at Port
Arthur and, although he operated chiefly in the financial circles of
The Loop and Wall Street, Gates was no stranger to Texas. In 1876,
as a cocky young drummer, he sold barbed wire to the ranchers of
Texas. When he arrived in San Antonio the cattlemen laughed at him.
In response to their jibes, Gates fenced in a city plaza and called for
the "worst fence busters" of the herds. Prepared to scoff at his experi
ment, the cattlemen readily accommodated him and gathered to watch
the spectacle. The cattle charged the wire as was expected but, their
hides pierced by the small barbs, they soon retired. Gates crammed
his salesbooks with orders.
The stories of how Gates got his nickname are legion. The most
plausible is that which tells how he and his partner, Isaac L. Ellwood,
the barbed wire manufacturer, were riding a train from Chicago to
Pittsburgh. Gates was morosely staring out at a rainstorm and idly
watching the raindrops gather on the windowpane and trickle do\vn
to the sill. Suddenly the bored Gates spoke: "Ellwood, I ll pick a
3l8 TEXAS
drop and you pick a drop and I ll bet you a million mine gets down
first." Ellwood reduced the wager to a thousand, and they bet on
many drops running down the windowpane. Before they reached Pitts
burgh, Gates had won $22,000.
Gates bought stock in Stilwell s companies, and soon brought them
under his control by shrewd manipulation. The embittered Stilwell
retreated to Europe, convinced that he had been frozen out.
In 1901 the first Spindletop gusher was discovered near Beaumont,
15 miles north, and the overflow of humanity from the oil fields came
to Port Arthur. Out of Spindletop came the three major oil companies
that since have dominated the Texas industry, the Gulf, the Texas and
the Magnolia. Capitalists seized the opportunity to build Port Arthur
solidly. While other men were drilling for new wells, they were
making this the refining and shipping point for the tremendous output
of petroleum wealth. Transportation was improved, streets built, pipe
lines thrown out from the docks to oil fields. When the boom sub
sided the city retained much of its large population Because it was then
recognized as a mature industrial center. Pipe lines have since been
extended, through which oil flows into the refineries from distant fields.
Designation as a port of entry came only after a hard fight, includ
ing the efforts of local Congressmen. On June 4, 1906, the Brooks
Bill, passed in the House of Representatives, gave Port Arthur its de
sired designation. The city was made a full port of entry in 1908.
Its shipping has steadily increased; Port Arthur in 1940 was third
among the seaports in Texas in the volume of tonnage.
But commerce is not the city s sole attraction. Sportsmen find this
an ideal region. The outlying salt marshes, bayous and rice fields are
frequented by great numbers of ducks and geese that make this section
their winter feeding ground. Salt water fishing is available within
the city limits in Lake Sabine where trout, redfish and perch abound.
Fresh water varieties of fish are caught in streams west of the city,
while deep sea fishermen take tarpon, amberjack and Spanish mackerel
from the Gulf of Mexico, 1 1 miles south. Cattle early were a leading
source of wealth for Port Arthur, and in its general vicinity the live
stock industry is still important. Rice and cotton are the leading crops.
Many acres are covered with refineries, storage tank farms, byproducts
plants and the shipping facilities of the petroleum industry; oil and
shipping still dominate the modern city that Stilwell dreamed into
existence with the aid of the "Brownies" of his other world.
POINTS OF INTEREST
i. The CITY HALL, Lake Shore Drive at Dallas Ave., a three-story
brick structure of Spanish mission architecture designed by Charles A.
Logan, architect, was formerly the Mary A. Gates Hospital. It was
occupied by city officials in 1930 upon completion of the St. Mary s
Hospital, Gates Memorial.
PORT ARTHUR 319
2. In the JEFFERSON COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING (open
8-5 workdays), 500 Lake Shore Drive, residents of Port Arthur trans
act most of their business with Jefferson County, although its official
seat is in Beaumont. The building was authorized by an act of the
State legislature in 1933; it is the only so-called sub-courthouse in
Texas. Offices of deputy county officers are here.
Of white Cordova limestone, with a three-story central section and
two-story adjoining wings, the building was completed in 1936 at a
cost of $230,000. It was designed in modern American style by Fred
C. Stone of Washington, D. C., Charles L. Wignall of Port Arthur,
and Llewellyn W. Pitts of Beaumont, architects.
3. PLEASURE PIER (bridge opens 5 a.m.- 1 2 midnight, Mar. to
Nov., for fishermen; remainder of year, 6 a.m.-i2 midnight}, at the
foot of Austin Ave., across the Sabine-Neches Canal on the north shore
of Lake Sabine, is an artificial island built of spoil from dredging
operations. Its eight acres provide a recreational center and playground
containing a pavilion where dances are held, and picnicking facilities.
Fishing, crabbing and boating are available. The first pier was built
here by Arthur Stilwell in 1897, an d was a well known pleasure resort.
After the city acquired the property in 1915, $300,000 worth of im
provement bonds provided for reconstruction. The 1940 improvement
program was calculated to enlarge the park area and provide more com
plete equipment.
4. The GATES MEMORIAL LIBRARY (open 9-9 workdays), 317
Stilwell Blvd., is a gift of the Gates estate as a memorial to John Warne
Gates and his son. It is a one-story building, oblong in shape, of rein
forced concrete with an exterior of Bedford limestone. The loggia has
six large columns of carved limestone in classic Renaissance style.
Marble wainscoting and walls and floors of plastered imitation lime
stone create a rich interior finish. Warren and Wetmore, architects
of New York City, designed the building. Storerooms, offices, admin
istration desks, reference and reading rooms are on the ground floor,
above which, on a mezzanine floor, are four rooms housing the library s
collections of magazines and newspapers.
Among the library s 17,577 books are the Gates family Bible and
the Book of Psalms, published in 1858 by the American Bible Society.
Apart from a collection of 4,000 photographs and prints, there are
i>575 stereoscopic views, with six stereoscopes for use by the public.
Adjacent to the building is LIONS PARK, with grounds beautifully
landscaped.
5. PORT ARTHUR COLLEGE (open 8-4 workdays), 1500 Procter
St., was presented to the city in 1909 by its founder, John W. Gates.
It is a coeducational and nonsectarian commercial college. The four
buildings, of cream-colored brick, costing approximately $500,000,
occupy a 15-acre campus. This is the only commercial and radio col
lege in the United States not privately owned, or operated for a profit.
The governors are a self-perpetuating board of trustees, selected from
the city s leading citizens, who serve without remuneration. Students
PORT ARTHUR
1940
LEGEND
US. High ways
! State Highways
Connecting streets
111 Railroads
-" Levees
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
Scale
I OOP 20OO 3000 4000
1000
PORT ARTHUR 321
may enroll any Monday, as the college is in session throughout the year.
Radio Station KPAC is operated by the school and used to train
students.
6. ST. MARY S HOSPITAL, GATES MEMORIAL (open 10-11
a.m., 2-4. and 6-8 p.m. daily), 1931 Ninth Ave., is the result of a gift
made to the city by Gates in memory of his mother in 1909, when he
donated a fund that provided for the erection of the old Mary A. Gates
Hospital, now used as the City Hall. Sisters of Charity of the Incar
nate Word operate the present $600,000 plant.
There are five buildings of rose-colored brick with white stone trim,
including the main structure, fronting on Ninth Street, a chapel, power
house, and convent. Maurice J. Sullivan, architect, designed the build
ings in modified or conventionalized Georgian patterns. Glazed win
dows of the thirteenth century type, and a rich Italian marble altar,
are in the chapel.
The SHRINE OF THE ARCHANGEL and the SHRINE OF OUR BLESSED
MOTHER are near a hedge that separates the hospital grounds from a
parking lot. PIONEER PARK, a landscaped plot of 20 acres, adjoins the
hospital grounds on the left.
7. The PORT ARTHUR-ORANGE BRIDGE (free; no parking),
5 ///. E. of the Port Arthur city limits on State 87, towers high above
the Neches River, which it spans. A 7,7OO-foot-long structure that
rises to a tiptop height of 230 feet, this was, in 1940, the tallest highway
bridge in the South. Its vertical clearance for ocean-going vessels is
176 feet. Construction was completed on April 13, 1938, representing a
cost of $2,750,000. For 20 years Port Arthur interests had attempted
to obtain an overland connection with points east ; this was made finan
cially possible through a grant of $1,141,742 by the Public Works Ad
ministration on August 24, 1935. Eleven thousand tons of steel, 31,700
cubic yards of concrete and 19,000 gallons of paint went into the fin-
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
PORT ARTHUR. Points of Interest
1. City Hall
2. Jefferson County Office Building
3. Pleasure Pier
4. Gates Memorial Library
5. Port Arthur College
6. St. Mary s Hospital, Gates Memorial
7. Port Arthur-Orange Bridge
8. Gulf Oil Corporation Refinery
9. Texas Company Refinery
322 TEXAS
ished structure. The grade of the roadway is five per cent and its width
is 25.5 feet.
8. The GULF OIL CORPORATION REFINERY (open by ar
rangement; no smoking), is adjacent to the W. city limits on State 87.
This is one of the largest oil refineries in the world, its plant covering
4,000 acres. More than 100,000 barrels of crude oil, conveyed through
pipe lines from oil fields of Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas
and Oklahoma, and by tank steamers from Pennsylvania, are processed
daily. Products include gasoline, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils
and greases, paraffin wax, and other specialties having a petroleum base,
such as insecticides, cleaning fluids, automobile wax and polish and
household lubricants. The refinery operates plants for the manufacture
of sulphuric acid, aluminum chloride and oxygen, all of them used in
the various oil refining processes. The 1,200 storage tanks have a ca
pacity of eight million barrels. A 3,ooo-foot wharf projects into an
arm of the Sabine-Neches Canal where ocean-going boats load their
cargoes. Facilities here make it possible for a vessel carrying 150,000
barrels to load and leave within 24 hours. On the grounds are a com
plete fire department, a telephone exchange of 400 numbers, a medical
staff and ambulance service, three electric plants and Radio Station
WPA.
REFINERY PARK is a recreation center for employees. The club
house contains bowling alleys, billiard tables, a library of current period
icals and an assembly and dance hall. An adjacent tennis court is
lighted for night play. Since 1901, when the refinery was opened as
a testing laboratory for petroleum from the Spindletop field, it has been
in continuous operation except for a short time in 1915 when the plant
was flooded during a hurricane. A flood protection levee has since been
constructed.
The refinery was launched by James Guffey and John Galey, backers
of the Spindletop discovery well; its pioneer stockholders included An
drew W. Mellon. The Gulf Refining Company was chartered in
November, 1901, and assumed control of two refineries then under
construction in Port Arthur. Its fleet of tankers was started in that
year; today it transports petroleum and its products to all parts of the
world.
9. The TEXAS COMPANY REFINERY (open by arrangement; no
smoking), N. end of Houston Ave., is the largest of this company s re
fineries in the Southwest and, like the Gulf Refinery, ranks among the
largest in existence. Its buildings and tanks spread over 4,799 acres,
and an additional 700 acres is covered by water reservoirs. A network
of railroad tracks within this area is more than 16 miles long. The tank
farm has 1,172 steel tanks whose capacity is 17,595,000 barrels. Op
erating as a subsidiary, the Texas Pipe Line Company has 5,300 miles
of pipe lines connecting with fields in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana,
Arkansas, and New Mexico.
On 5O-acre Texaco Island cans of from two-ounce to five-gallon
PORT ARTHUR 323
capacity are manufactured for use in the shipment of refinery products.
By 1939, the daily output of this branch was 350,000 cans.
The refinery employs about 3,800 persons; 600 work at the island
plant. The marine division operates 23 tankers, 17 motor ships and 202
tugs and barges. A recreational center for employees is in the ASSEM
BLY BUILDING, a $200,000 air-conditioned two-story structure of con
crete, glass bricks and marble. The auditorium can seat 1,200 persons.
James Roche, an Englishman, launched the region s first refinery
following the discovery of oil at Spindletop (see Beaumont) ; from this
venture grew the present organization and property of the Texas Com
pany Refinery.
San Antonio
Railroad Stations: 700 E. Commerce St. for Southern Pacific Lines; W. Hous
ton and N. Medina Sts. for Missouri Pacific Lines; S. Flores and Durango Sts.
for Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines.
Bus Stations: Greyhound Bus Terminal, 808 Navarro St., for Southwestern
Greyhound Lines, Union Bus Lines, Creamer Stage Line, Kerrville Bus Co., Inc.,
Painter Bus Lines, Inc., Atascosa Bus Line, and Bandera Bus Line; E. Travis
and N. Alamo Sts. for Randolph Field Transportation Co. and Great South
western Charter Bus Lines; Bowen Bus Station, 215 N. Alamo St., for Bowen
Trailways, Highway Transportation Co., Creamer Stage Line, Union Bus Lines,
All American Bus Lines, Inc., and Bowen Trailways Mexico Tours; Gray
Line Sightseeing Tours leave from the Alamo at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily for
35-mile tour of missions.
Airport: Stinson Field, 7 m. S. on Mission Rd. for Braniff Airways, Inc., and
Eastern Air Lines, Inc.; taxi $1.25, time 20 min.
City Busses: Zoning system; fare, first zone ic^ ; with transfer privileges;
second zone, 15^; third zone, 20^ ; fourth zone, 25^; special rates for students
and children, also token and pass rates for adults.
Taxis: Fare, Yellow Cabs, 35^ up to 2 m., 5$ each additional 0.5 m.; other
taxis 25$ up to 1 m., 5^ each additional 0.5 m.
Traffic Regulations: No left turns in business district where marked. Four
one-way streets, E. to W. on Crockett St. from N. St. Mary s to Losoya Sts.;
N. to S. on Yturri St. from Commerce to Dolorosa Sts.; E. to W. on Dolorosa
St. from Yturri St. to Dwyer Ave. ; N. to S. on Corcoran St. from W. Com
merce to W. Market Sts. Parking meters in downtown area, 5^ an hour 7-6,
except Sun. and legal holidays; in congested districts, 5^ for 20 min., so
designated.
Accommodations: 35 hotels, including 3 large apartment hotels in residential
areas; i hotel for Negroes; 46 tourist lodges.
Information Service: Municipal Information Bureau, Spanish Governors
Palace, 105 Military Plaza; Inter-American Highway Association, Furlong
Service, information on Mexico and Pan American Highway, 423 N. St. Mary s
St.; Chamber of Commerce Tourist Bureau, Insurance Bldg., N. St. Mary s
and Martin Sts.; San Antonio Automobile League (American Automobile Asso
ciation), 208 E. Travis St.; Mexican Chamber of Commerce, Aztec Bldg., W.
Commerce and N. St. Mary s Sts.; South Texas Chamber of Commerce, Smith-
Young Tower, S. St. Mary s and Villita Sts.; Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service,
Plaza Hotel, S. St. Mary s and Villita Sts.
Radio Stations: WOAI (1190 kc.) ; KTSA (550 kc.) ; KABC (1420 kc.) ;
KMAC (1370 kc.); KONO (1370 kc.).
Athletics: Alamo Stadium, Hildebrand Ave. near Devine Rd., school and col
lege football and other events; Tech Field, N. Flores and W. Evergreen Sts.,
and Eagle Field, Roseborough and Yorkshire Sts., public school events; other
fields in municipal parks and at Army posts.
Baseball: Tech Field, Texas League.
Golf: Brackenridge Park (municipal), 3800 block Broadway, 18 holes, 50^
before 3 p.m., 25^ after; Riverside Course (municipal), Roosevelt and Mc
Donald Aves., 9 holes, 25^; Willow Springs, 3.5 m. out E. Houston St. on St.
Hedwig Rd., 18 holes, 50^ weekdays, 75^ Sun. and holidays; Hillcrest Country
324
SAN ANTONIO 325
Club, 8 m. NW. on Babcock Rd., 9 holes, 25^ weekdays, 50^ Sat., Sun., and
holidays.
Polo: Brackenridge Park, i field, games usually on Wed. and Sun. after
noons; Fort Sam Houston, 3 fields; Miller Field, 0.5 m. L. of US 90 on W. W.
White Rd. (7 m. E. of city) ; and Stutts Field, US 90 at St. Hedwig Rd., 6.3 m.
E. of city; games almost daily during winter.
Riding: Blue and White Stables, 742 E. Huisache Ave. ; Brackenridge Stables
and Riding Academy, 3506 N. St. Mary s St.; West Woodlawn Saddle Club,
517 Bandera Rd. ; rates 50^ an hour upward; bridle paths in Brackenridge
Park, including one for burros (rides for children, 5^).
Swimming: Brackenridge Park; Lambert Park, Roosevelt Ave. and Simpson
St.; Elmendorf Park, W. Commerce and W. i9th Sts. ; Central Playground (for
Negroes), Potomac and N. Pine Sts.; Frio Street Pool, S. Frio and Matamoras
Sts., all free. San Pedro Park, San Pedro Ave. and E. Dewey PL; Woodlawn
Lake, Josephine Tobin Dr. and W. Cincinnati Ave.; Concepcion Park, E.
Theo Ave. between Mission Rd. and S. Flores St., all io<? and 20^; books of
10 tickets, adults, $1.00, 20 tickets, children, $1.00; season tickets, $7.50. All
are municipal pools.
Tennis: Brackenridge Park, 5 courts; Central Playground, 4; Denver Heights,
Porter St. and Denver Blvd. at S. Palmetto Ave., 2; Highland Park, Rigsby
Ave. and S. Mittman St., 4; Lambert Park, 2; Lincoln Park (for Negroes),
E. Commerce and Mittman St., 2 ; Roosevelt Park, Mission Rd. and Riverside
Dr., 2; San Pedro Park, 6; Woodlawn Lake, 4; all municipal courts free except
when courts are reserved, 10^ an hour.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium, Auditorium
Circle at N. end of Jefferson St., local productions and road shows; San
Pedro Playhouse, San Pedro Park, Little Theater productions, concerts, occa
sional road shows; the Sunken Garden Theater, open air, Brackenridge Park,
civic operas, other local productions; River Theater, open air, 500 blk. Villita
St., municipal entertainments; 13 motion picture houses, i for Negroes; occa
sional road shows at 2 downtown movie houses.
Annual Events: Texas Open Golf Tournament, ist 2 wks. of Feb.; Fiesta
de San Jacinto, wk. of Apr. 21; Pilgrimage to Alamo, Mon. of Fiesta Week;
Coronation of Queen, Municipal Auditorium, Thur. night of Fiesta Week;
Feast of Christ the King, Roman Catholic religious event, Mission Concepcion,
Mission Rd., last Sun. of Oct. ; Indian Summer Festival, outdoor mission
carnival given by the San Antonio Conservation Society, Mission San Jose,
Mission Rd., Oct.; All Souls Day observance, especially at San Fernando
Cemetery No. i, between S. San Marcos, S. Colorado, Tampico and Vera
Cruz Sts., Nov. 2; Matachines, in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1321
El Paso St., Dec. 12; Los Pastores, Chapel of Miracles, 113 Ruiz St., and in
Mexican Quarter, information at International Institute, 515 N. Pecos St.,
Christmas season (Dec. and Jan.).
SAN ANTONIO (656 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census 231,542; est.
pop. 1940, 260,000) is one of the oldest of Texas cities, the third largest,
and the most diversified in past history and present color. Among the
Nation s sizable cities it is one of the eight or ten which, in the same
sense as Boston, Charleston, New Orleans, and San Francisco, are
wholly distinctive in their individual atmosphere. It was a Spanish
outpost, then an American frontier, and now is a busy industrial com
munity and tourist winter resort. Its many suburbs in 1940 gave it
an estimated population, in its metropolitan area, ot 310,000.
Contrary to the typical American plan, San Antonio s downtown
streets radiate like a huge spider web from the center an irregular
quadrilateral bounded by Houston and Commerce Streets, Alamo Plaza
326 TEXAS
and Alain Avenue, with the City Hall just off the center. The core of
the business district overflows this central area, while on its outer fringe,
east and west, remains of the Spanish occupation (the Alamo, the
Cathedral, and the Governors Palace) mark the spread of the old town
of the Dons.
Cattle from the mesquite-covered acres stretching almost endlessly
south and west, winter vegetables, citrus fruits and berries from adjacent
artesian lands, oil from all points of the compass, cotton from prairies
that extend beyond the city, wool and mohair from the neighboring
hills these enrich its economic life. Its present business occupations are
in striking contrast with its turbulent past, yet that past is a living back
ground for modern activities.
Its ancient missions still stand, and a populous Mexican quarter
perpetuates the language and ways of an earlier day when again and
again armies fought for the city, one such battle bringing deathless fame
to its dead, and making the Alamo, in the city s heart, the patriot shrine
of Texas. Violent deeds and vivid episodes over many a year splash
its history ; men yet live who participated in some of them.
San Antonio began as a military center; it still is a military center.
Established as a Spanish presidio in the wilderness, it now holds withjn
the city limits Fort Sam Houston, the largest army post in the United
States, while encircling its outskirts are military aviation fields such as
Kelly (see Tour 8d) , Brooks (see Tour 26), and Randolph (see Tour
8c). Scattered in and around the city are supply depots, target ranges,
machine shops, an arsenal, and other military units. Small wonder the
city is known in some circles as "the mother-in-law of the army" because
so many of its personnel have married while serving in San Antonio.
Throughout the city lingers the influence of the conquistador es, the
padres, and the early Spanish settlers. Its skyscrapers appear alien
beside historic buildings. Its many important industries and commer
cial institutions serve a large part of the Southwest, yet close beside
them, queer, musty old establishments near Main and Military Plazas
still specialize in serving the ranch and chuck wagon. Traffic rolls
over streets that follow trails beaten by mustangs and cattle drives. In
the apt expression of an earlier day, a map of the downtown section
still shows considerable resemblance to a "skillet of snakes." The Mex
ican quarter, which overflows into the business district, cherishes ob
servances brought to the wilderness by Franciscan monks.
More than 30 nationalities are represented in the cosmopolitan
population, 36 per cent of which is of Mexican blood. Various other
foreign elements, including approximately 40,000 persons of German
descent and a much smaller number of French, Belgians, and Italians,
have particularly influenced the community s architecture, painting, and
music, and have contributed colorful folk customs. Negroes, constitut
ing nine per cent of the whole population, reside principally in an area
in the eastern part of the city, and have a business district along East
Commerce Street. In addition to their schools and churches, San An-
SAN ANTONIO 327
tonic Negroes have a Little Theater, a branch library, parks, and a
weekly newspaper.
Not the least of the city s charms is the river, so winding near its
source in San Antonio that an oft-repeated legend most adequately de
scribes it. Back in the days when the Indians learned much from the
Spaniards besides the doctrines piously expounded by the padres, they
characterized the river by an Indian word which meant "drunken-old-
man-going-home-at-night." Spanned by 42 bridges in the business and
residential districts, this unhurried stream travels 15 miles to cross six
miles of city blocks. In 1939 a $300,000 river beautification project,
financed by means of a city bond issue and a Work Projects Administra
tion grant, was inaugurated. Conversion of the river into a thorough
fare by means of walks leading from all principal downtown streets,
and deepening of the stream to make it navigable for small river craft,
was part of the program, which included the construction of river-edge
walks, landscaping, building of electrical fountains, and the creation of
an outdoor theater equipped with water curtains.
Though the city has added 22 years to its 2OOth birthday, its story
goes back much further. Indians inhabited the spot unnumbered cen
turies before the white man set foot on the Western Hemisphere, as
indicated by archeological remains. It is believed that Cabeza de Vaca
visited the neighborhood in 1536 and discovered a village of friendly
natives.
On June 13, 1691, Don Domingo Teran de los Rios, accompanied
by Father Damian Massanet and an escort of 50 soldiers, found a large
rancheria of Payayas at the headwaters of a pleasantly shaded river.
The Indians called the village "Yanaguana," but Father Massanet, hav
ing set up a cross and erected an arbor of cottonwood boughs under
which to say Mass, rechristened the place San Antonio, in honor of St.
Anthony of Padua. In 1714 the French explorer, Louis Juchereau de
St. Denis, reported the advantages of the location for settlement.
Don Martin de Alarcon, Captain General and Governor of the Prov
ince of Texas, and Fray Antonio de San Buenaventura Olivares, with
72 settlers, monks, and soldiers, pushed laboriously across 600 miles of
wilderness from Mexico, and reached the "site called San Antonio," in
May of 1718, driving before them 200 cows, 548 horses, 1,000 sheep,
and 200 oxen. The soldier Alarcon and the missionary Olivares quar
reled mightily, and the expedition split before its destination was
reached.
On May I Father Olivares founded the Mission San Antonio de
Valero (the present Alamo), named for St. Anthony and the viceroy,
and built a hut as a temporary mission structure. Governor Alarcon,
four days later, founded the Villa de Bejar (later spelled Bexar, and
pronounced Bay-ar), and left a guard of soldiers.
Within the next 13 years four more missions raised their stone
walls along the green-banked river for a distance of seven miles.
Fifteen families from the Canary Islands limped into the Villa de
Bejar, March 9, 1731, after a year s journey, and established the Villa
328 TEXAS
de San Fernando, across the stream from the Mission San Antonio
de Valero. They built flat-roofed stone and adobe houses around two
plazas, and, like the padres at the missions, dug acequias (irrigation
ditches) to water their fields. They quarreled with the missionaries,
the soldiers, and among themselves. Their church was built by public
contributions, generously increased by the King of Spain, and a school
was established in 1746 (see Education}.
In 1786 Francisco Guadalupe Calaorra was awarded a grant of land
in recognition of his ownership of a boat, with which he established a
ferry across the San Antonio River. Thus, although San Antonio is
150 miles from the sea, and near no navigable stream, its first public
transportation was by water.
The missions prospered, declined, and in 1793-94 ceased to function.
The fort, villa, and the settlement about the secularized Mission San
Antonio de Valero, were consolidated into San Antonio de Bexar, the
capital of the Province of Texas.
A motley crew of Anglo-American filibusterers and Mexican and
Indian revolutionists held the town when Mexico attempted to free
itself from Spanish rule, but retaliation came swiftly with the Spaniard,
Don Joaquin Arredondo, who exterminated the rebel army, and im
prisoned 300 citizens (August 20, 1813) in an airless building where
1 8 smothered before the remainder were taken out and shot. He forced
the \vomen to convert 24 bushels of corn into tortillas, daily, for the
Spanish army, and so mistreated many of them that the street which
passed the place of imprisonment is to this day Dolorosa the Street of
Sorrow. When Arredondo finished, the town was well-nigh deserted,
its prosperity drowned in blood.
After Moses Austin arrived in San Antonio one December day of
1820 and opened Texas to Anglo-American settlement, the city s his
tory became, in large part, the history of the State, although it re
mained a typically Mexican town. Not until after the Texas Revolution
in 1836 did Anglo-American influence begin to make itself really felt.
In the 1 840*5 another racial element arrived to help mold the com
munity a heavy influx of German immigrants. Beer gardens began
to dot the river banks, and Saengerfests made San Antonio a music
center.
As early as 1834, however, the desire for self-government was mani
fest in San Antonio. A number of local Mexicans joined the cause of
independence from the harsh rule of Santa Anna, dictator-President of
Mexico. The Battle of San Antonio began on December 5, 1835,
when Texas revolutionists under Ben Milam stormed the town, and re
sulted, five days later, in the formal surrender of General Martin Per-
fecto de Cos. But the military success of the Texans was temporary.
Santa Anna, with an army of more than S^ooo, reached San Antonio in
February, 1836, and on March 6 took the Alamo fortress after every
defender had died. After this tragedy San Antonio again was an almost
deserted community until, following victory for the Texans, it became
a western outpost of the Republic, and its non-Latin settlement increased.
SAN ANTONIO 329
In 1 86 1 General David E. Twiggs, commander of the Department
of Texas, surrendered the Department to volunteers of Major Ben
McCulloch s Confederate forces who had seized the army post and the
town. On the afternoon of that day, February 16, Lieutenant Colo
nel Robert E. Lee arrived in San Antonio from Fort Mason, under
orders to report in Washington. Those in charge of military offices
informed him that unless he joined the Confederacy transportation of
his baggage would be denied ; he refused, on the grounds that he owed
allegiance to Virginia and to the Union, but not to "any revolutionary
government of Texas," and, technically a prisoner, on departure was
forced to leave his baggage, which he never recovered. John Baylor
began recruiting his Partisan Rangers in San Antonio in 1862, a year
marked by a riot on Christmas Eve by some members of a Confederate
company of Taylor s Battalion. The rioters destroyed chili stands on
the plazas, and clashed with a company of local Mexican volunteers.
By 1863 San Antonio had contributed 40 companies to the Confederacy.
As the war ended, soldiers of the lost cause, on their way to join the
army of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, passed through the city.
The beginning of the cattle drives, immediately after the Civil
War, and the coming of the first railroad (1877), when the Southern
Pacific built westward, brought great changes. Other railroads soon
followed. Immigrants poured in. The lusty business of the open range
boomed in the late 1 870*5 and early i88o s, and San Antonio, a veritable
cattle capital, experienced a lurid period.
Saloons most of them with gaming tables flourished. Behind
their carved and polished bars flashily dressed bartenders mixed fiery
drinks and dodged w r hen bullets flew. Men whose herds ranged over
ten million acres played recklessly for high stakes against cold-eyed
professional gamblers and each other. Variety theaters combined the
three ingredients, wine, women, and song, but the wine was hard liquor
and the song was too frequently interrupted by the deadly explosion of
a six-gun. A bank now one of the city s wealthiest originated when
a merchant accommodated his customers by hiding their money in a
barrel beneath his floor.
From 12,000 in 1870, the population increased to 37,673 in 1890.
Electricity and streetcars were introduced. The river turned the stones
for flour mills. High turrets of breweries loomed like castles on the
Rhine. The first cement factory west of the Mississippi raised its
smokestack north of town, Stone and gravel were quarried. Foun
dries became machine shops. The U^nion Stockyards became a con
centration point for livestock.
In 1878 water was piped into the city, but the system proved un
popular with residents accustomed to dip water from aceqmas. Not
until 1888, when the increased population made a better water supply
necessary, was the first artesian well drilled. Thirty-two wells, mu
nicipally owned, now afford an ample supply.
Today San Antonio has 310 major manufacturing plants, producing
goods valued in 1939 at $40,000.000. A diversity of products includes
330 TEXAS
flour, ice cream, candy, macaroni, chili con came, beer, brooms, tile, re
frigerators and clothing.
The various phases of petroleum development are responsible for a
larger part of the city s income than any other single industry. In 1939
there were 4,000 persons directly employed by the four refineries, 15
supply firms and more than a hundred operators; this payroll, royalties
and other income from oil was estimated to total at least $125,000,000.
Many former ranchmen and farmers, made wealthy by oil, live here.
During 1939 livestock worth $10,000,000 was handled; some of the
cattle sold were for shipment, but many were slaughtered in the city s
eight packing plants.
Despite its growth and varied industries, the city has never forgot
ten how to play. San Antonio has held liberal ideas as to what con
stitutes amusement for visitors and citizens, and in catering to a broad
variety of tastes, has upon occasion acquired such names as "Unsainted
Anthony" and "The Free State of Bexar." It throws itself with almost
Latin enthusiasm into public celebration, historic, commemorative, re
ligious. Brisk military bands play, varicolored lights are festooned across
the streets, across the river, looped over tall buildings, and hung among
the trees.
Since 1891, when President Benjamin Harrison s visit coincided
with the city s commemoration of the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21,
1836), the army and the city have cooperated annually in this cele
bration. First called the Battle of Flowers, because occupants of
decorated vehicles pelted one another with flowers as they passed the
Alamo, the celebration is now called the Fiesta de San Jacinto.
POINTS OF INTEREST
I. The ALAMO (open 9-5 workdays, 10-1 Sun. and holidays], E.
side of Alamo Plaza, stands in the shadow of a modern skyscraper.
This little low gray chapel and the crumbling ivy-covered walls about
the courtyard northwest of the chapel are all that remain of the mis
sion-fort in which at last 187 Anglo-Americans laid down their lives
that Texas might be free (see History).
Many believe that in its original form the chapel the third one
to be erected on this spot built about 1756, resembled Mission Con-
cepcion with its twin towers. The mission of which the chapel was
a part ceased to function as a church institution in 1793. Though
used irregularly as a fort thereafter, it fell progressively into decay, and
at the time of the siege (February 23-March 6, 1836), it was a roofless
ruin almost filled with debris; but a high rock wall about three feet
thick, combined with buildings that had been cloisters and later were
barracks, formed an enclosed parallelogram, slightly enlarged at the
north, which covered much of what is now Alamo Plaza. Within
that enclosure the battle was fought, with a last stand in the chapel.
In 1849, Major E. B. Babbitt, U. S. A., repaired the building for
use as a quartermaster depot. He restored the chapel walls to support
ALAMO FORTRESS AREA, 1836
In relation to street and plaza lines of 1940
LEGEND
Alamo Fortress,l836 Convent Garden, 1940
Street Lines,l940 """" Building Lines ,1940
NOTE .
The lines of the 1836 Alamo Fortress are those given in John Henry Brown s "History
of Texas, 1865- 1892," as having been supplied by Col. George W. Fulton from
information gathered in 1837.
Scale
332 TEXAS
a new roof, and the arched top of the present front was his design,
although the carved entrance remains as it was originally.
The chapel was purchased by the State in 1883, and other property
about the courtyard in September, 1905. The wall along the sidewalk
from Houston Street toward the chapel is a part of the original ruins.
In 1936, as a Texas Centennial project, $250000 was appropriated
by the State to complete the purchase of the block, and work was begun
to convert the area into a park.
Except for repairs, including a new roof and new stone flagging,
the chapel remains as it was built, its walls in the form of a cross, with
small rooms on each side of the large central part of the church.
On the right is the baptistry. Opposite it on the left is the con
fessional. The second door to the left leads to a chamber called the
monks burial room, which opens into the sacristy. Left of the chapel
is the ALAMO MUSEUM (open 9-5 workdays, 10-1 Sun.}, erected by
the State in 1937. The building is of Spanish Colonial architecture,
designed by Henry T. Phelps. Relics of the Alamo and of the era of
the Republic of Texas are housed here.
The HEROES OF THE ALAMO CENOTAPH, in Alamo Plaza, occupies
the approximate center of the former Alamo fortress area. The blunt
shaft rising from a sarcophagus bears on the south face a heroic male
figure, the Spirit of Sacrifice rising from the funeral pyre of the Texans,
while a female figure on the north face represents the Spirit of Texas,
bearing under her arms reversed shields symbolizing Texas and the
United States. Travis, Bonham, Crockett and Bowie are central figures
in groups of soldiers on the other sides. Names of the Alamo defenders
are carved around the rim of the sarcophagus. Of Georgia marble, the
Cenotaph was erected in 1939 as a project of the Centennial Division
of the State Board of Control. Adams and Adams were the archi
tects; Pompeo Coppini, the sculptor.
2. MENGER HOTEL, NE. corner Alamo Plaza and Blum St., has
sheltered scores of celebrities, among them Robert E. Lee, Theodore
Roosevelt, Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, and William
Jennings Bryan. In its patio stands one of the old trees of the Alamo
grounds.
At the corner of Alamo Plaza and Commerce Street the fictional
hero of O. Henry s A Fog in San tone (in which title, oddly, the
author gave the city s name as no San Antonian ever speaks it) turned,
after his visit to a drug store on North Alamo Street, to begin his walk
toward the Mexican Quarter, in which the tale has its culmination.
3. The GERMAN-ENGLISH SCHOOL (open 8:30-5 workdays),
419 S. Alamo St., was the largest educational institution of the city in
1858, the date of its founding. Julius Berends, German nobleman,
was one of the founders. The old rock buildings are occupied by the
San Antonio Junior College.
4. FRANCOIS LOUIS DESMAZIERES RESIDENCE AND
STORE, 601 S. Alamo St., built in the early 1850 *, is typical of the
period. The thick walls are built of stone and adobe, and the over-
SAN ANTONIO 333
hanging second story is supported by small posts, in each of which is a
hitching ring.
5. Part of early San Antonio is to be commemorated in LA VILLITA
(the little town), bounded by Villita, S. Presa, Nacional, and King
Philip V Sts., a reconstruction and reproduction project begun in 1939
under the sponsorship of Mayor Maury Maverick. Here houses more
than a hundred years old, that have survived almost within the shadow
of the city s tallest skyscraper, are being returned, by National Youth
Administration workers, to the architectural designs of their builders
Spaniards, Mexicans, Germans, Frenchmen and Anglo-Americans and
other buildings are being erected to represent a cross section of types
between 1722 and 1850. It is planned to house arts and crafts shops,
a restaurant and a museum in an authentic atmosphere of early days.
The site is a part of old Villita, settled by soldiers and their families
after the founding of Mission San Antonio de Valero. When Austin s
army forced the surrender of General Cos in 1835, the articles are said
to have been signed in the Cos HOUSE, 513 Villita St., which is in
cluded in the restoration program. Batteries of Santa Anna s artillery
were placed in Little Town during the siege of the Alamo. When
European immigrants arrived in the 1840*5, their customs blended into
the Villita scene. Though San Antonio had begun a growth that has
continued to the present, for an unexplained reason modernity has
shunned the spot occupied by the project. (For further information, see
OLD VILLITA, another of the American Guide Series, published
!939 by the City of San Antonio.)
6. SAN ANTONIO PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9 workdays,
1:30-5:30 Sun.), 210 W. Market St., is a gray limestone building of
modern architecture. It was designed by Herbert S. Green, and com
pleted in 1930 at a cost of $300,000. This library with its five
branches and 115,145 books grew from a small library launched in the
1870*8 by San Antonio women. It contains a Texas history collection.
7. The LIBRARY, SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF SAN ANTONIO
(open by appointment), 133 W. Commerce St., has more than 5,000
rare books on science, general literature, and San Antonio and Texas
history.
8. The SMITH-YOUNG TOWER (adm. to observation tower,
2 5^t NE. corner Villita and S. St. Mary s Sts., a 3i-story building, is
the best observation point in San Antonio. This building, of modified
Gothic design, Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres, architects, was erected
on a filled-in river bed, the river having been diverted into an artificial
channel.
9. The VANCE HOUSE (open 8-5 workdays, adm. by arrangement),
210 W. Nueva St., is a two-story Colonial house of cut stone with great
porches, front and back railings of attractive ironwork and a half-base
ment in which were the family dining room and a banquet hall. It was
built, 1857-59, for James Vance, from Stebaune, Ireland, as a home for
his bride. The lumber and iron railings, from New Orleans, were
hauled by oxcart from Indianola.
334 TEXAS
10. The BEXAR COUNTY COURTHOUSE, between W. Nueva
St. and Main Plaza, Dwyer and S. Main Aves., is built of red Pecos
sandstone and red granite from West Texas; it follows the Romanesque
trend of architecture, with fort-like towers and a green tile roof. The
architects were James Reiley Gordon, for the first unit ; Phelps and
Dewees, George Willis, and E. T. Jackson, for the second unit.
11. The SITE OF THE COUNCIL HOUSE FIGHT, 114 Main
Plaza, is indicated by a marker on the Citizens Industrial Bank build
ing. In 1840, 12 Comanche chiefs who had brought a party of 65 In
dians to San Antonio, bargained with citizens for the freedom of 13
white captives. The Indians brought only one captive, and a fight
started when settlers proposed that the chiefs be held as hostages against
the delivery of the remaining white prisoners. Of the Indians 33 were
killed and 32 captured, with 7 whites killed and 8 or 10 wounded. At
this spot in 1842, General Woll, with a Mexican army, captured
Bexar s judges and jury and took them prisoners to Mexico.
12. The SITE OF THE MUSQUIZ HOUSE, 336 W. Commerce
St., is indicated by a marker on the Main Plaza side of this corner
building that replaces the Ramon Musquiz house in which the Mexican
general, Santa Anna, received the women and children survivors of the
Battle of the Alamo.
13. At the FATAL CORNER, 401 W. Commerce St., occurred six
major homicides in the days of the "bad men." On this site stood the
Jack Harris Vaudeville Theater, in which, one night in 1884, took
place the killing of Ben Thompson and King Fisher, both gunmen of
great repute, and the fatal wounding of Joe Foster, one of the theater s
proprietors. Jack Harris, a partner of Foster s, had been killed by
Thompson in 1882. A blood feud had developed between the pro
prietors of the theater and Thompson, because of a gambling debt.
14. The SITE OF SANTA ANNA S HEADQUARTERS, 409 W.
Commerce St., has a marker on the division wall between the building
at this number and the one on the corner.
15. SAN FERNANDO CATHEDRAL (open 6-8:30 daily), on
Main Plaza between Trevino and Galan Sts., has the oldest parish
church building in the State. The iron cross mounted on the Moorish
dome of the earliest part of this Roman Catholic cathedral marks the
exact geographical center of the city. In the Villa of San Fernando a
parochial church stood here; its cornerstone was laid in 1738. Colonel
Francis W. Johnson raised the flag of victory from its towers in 1835
following the Battle of San Antonio; Santa Anna used the church dur
ing the Alamo siege, and from its top flew the blood red flag of no
quarter. The building as it now appears was completed in 1873 (the
rear of the building being original), and the parish church became a
cathedral in 1874. In 1936 fragments of bone were disinterred from
beneath the floor, believed by some authorities to be remains of Alamo
heroes, buried there after their charred bones had been recovered from
the site of the funeral pyres.
In the rear of the main building is the CATHEDRAL MUSEUM
SAN ANTONIO 335
(open 9-5:30 workdays}^ which contains church relics and objects of
historic interest, including a door of the former parish church, equipped
with 10 locks.
1 6. MILITARY PLAZA, between S. Flores, Camaron, W. Com
merce and Dolorosa Sts., established by the Canary Islanders in 1731
Key to Map on the Following Two Pages.
SAN ANTONIO DOWNTOWN. Points of Interest
1. The Alamo
2. Menger Hotel
3. German-English School
4. Francois Louis Desmazieres Residence and Store
5. La Villita
6. San Antonio Public Library
7. Library, Scientific Society of San Antonio
8. Smith-Young Tower
9. Vance House
10. Bexar County Courthouse
11. Site of the Council House Fight
12. Site of the Musquiz House
13. Fatal Corner
14. Site of Santa Anna s Headquarters
15. San Fernando Cathedral
1 6. Military Plaza
17. Francisco Ruiz House
1 8. Spanish Governors Palace
19. Municipal Market House
20. Haymarket Plaza
21. Washington Square
22. Mil am Square
23. The Buckhorn
24. Site of Veramendi Palace
25. Old Twohig Place
26. St. Mary s Roman Catholic Church
27. Ursuline Convent and Academy
28. Municipal Auditorium
29. St. Mark s Episcopal Church
30. Travis Park
31. U. S. Post Office and Courthouse
32. Scottish Rite Temple
33. Typical Adobe and Rock House of the 1850 $
B
SAN ANTONIO
DOWNTOWN
1940
LEGEND
US. Highways
State Highways
Connecting Streets
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest -Symbol
IStreams >=< Bridges
100 . 300 500 750
Feet
1000
To:
Del Rio
El Paso
mtmm
&%m
TO:
!87(Amarillo
El Paso
JO:
iBandera
ROW (I9J
M
IISNAjviSTA I ST.
VWZZZA
JJONTERFY
TO:
Wichitt
Falls
Corpus Christ!
4
To-. Lampasas
Wichita Falls
Tourist
[formation
3ureau
(AftarnatolpQ\(Routc)
HOUSY6NI
COLLEGE
seemg-Tbur
ALAMC)
338 TEXAS
as the Plaza de las Armas, or "place of ^irms," was the center of pro
tection for the settlers. Here the buildings were built low, of adobe,
with flat roofs and few outside openings, so that in case of Indian attack
they could be used as forts. At night, rawhides were stretched across
the narrow openings between houses, to repel arrows. Here the soldiers
of the garrison resided, ready to respond should the sentinel in the
church tower give an alarm. CITY HALL, in the center of Military
Plaza, is an Italian Renaissance building of limestone, designed by Otto
Kramer. It was erected in 1888 and partly reconstructed in 1927.
On the NW. corner of the grounds is a bronze STATUE OF MOSES
AUSTIN, executed by Waldine Tauch, sculptor.
17. The FRANCISCO RUIZ HOUSE (private), 420 Dolorosa St.,
an adobe building of simple lines, was the residence of Francisco Ruiz,
signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. His son, who was
alcalde (mayor) of San Antonio at the time of the Alamo battle, was
assigned by Santa Anna to the task of burying the dead Mexicans and
burning the bodies of the Texans.
1 8. The SPANISH GOVERNORS PALACE (open 8:30-5:30
workdays, 2-5 Sun., adm. wrf), 105 Military Plaza, contains Spanish
Colonial furniture and -wrought iron. The arms of the Hapsburgs are
on the keystone over the main entrance.
Carved in the keystone is the date 1 749. The exact date of erection
of the building, however, and its actual use except as the comandancia
(residence of the captain of the presidio), is not definitely known, but
according to tradition Spanish governors or vice governors of the prov
ince of Texas made it their home, and here gave gala receptions and
balls, performed administrative duties and held judicial tribunals.
In 1804, however, it was the property of Ygnacio Perez, whose heirs
held it for 125 years. It became a second-hand clothing store, a res
taurant, and a barroom called "The Hole in the Wall." In 1929,
when the City of San Antonio purchased it for the purpose of restora
tion, it was a junk-cluttered eyesore, with only parts of the old structure
remaining.
The long, low building is white, plastered inside and out. There
are ten rooms and a loft, la dispensa, where food supplies were stored.
At the right of the entrance hall is the Room of the Blessed Virgin, for
family worship. At the left is the Sala de Justicia, where the affairs
of government are supposed to have been conducted, also used as a ball
room. Other rooms are the "governor s office," several bedrooms, and
the dining room, which has a fireplace and a stone lavabo, for washing
the hands before eating. An open brazier of stone is in the kitchen.
In the patio are a "wishing well," a central fountain, winding paths
and grounds landscaped with native flowers and shrubs.
The palace is a challenge to laymen and experts alike to detect the
old part from the new. It was restored under the direction of Harvey
P. Smith, architect, and is administered by the City of San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO 339
THE MEXICAN QUARTER
West and a little south of San Pedro Creek, which crosses West
Commerce Street between numbers 713 and 715, is the Mexican Quar
ter, its residents numbering approximately 70,000. To go "west of the
San Pedro" is almost equivalent to crossing the Rio Grande. Here are
odd shops, distinctive foreign odors, women wrapped in black rebozos
huddling over baskets of freshly made tortillas, venders of candy, pan
dulce (sweet bread), balloons, and brilliant paper flowers. Street
singers wander over this district, often improvising folk songs as they
go. Among them are many Mexican singers whose songs have been
recorded for the phonograph. The somnolent atmosphere of Mexico
broods over all. Straight ahead is the center of business activity where
the illusion is further enhanced by many signs in Spanish, and two thea
ters that show films with all-Spanish dialogue.
The poorer residential section extends west of South Pecos Street,
covering an area of about 25 blocks. The general aspect and mode of
life is that of Mexico, but slightly modified by its environment.
There are great numbers of the very poor, however, who live in
what they themselves call vecindades (neighborhoods), in houses com
monly known to English-speaking residents as corrals (pens), because
the huts are arranged in rows opening into a common court. These
housing conditions are devoid of comfort and sometimes highly inimical
to health. In 1936 a slum clearance program was begun by the city,
and in 1938 the Housing Authority of the City of San Antonio was
organized to build low-cost family units. By the end of September,
1939, more than 2,300 houses had been razed or closed to use; and the
Authority had begun or projected 2,564 one-family units, for which the
Federal government had allotted $9,200,000. This was increased 10
per cent by local participation. The projects call for the construction of
units for from one to five families each, leaving 75 per cent of the
land free for air space and playgrounds. Restricted to families with
$1,000 or less annual income the average is expected to be about
$640 the apartment rentals are planned to be $6 monthly for three
rooms, $7.15 for four rooms, and $8.31 for five rooms.
Employment conditions among the residents of the district range
from good to deplorable, the latter where the necessities of the very
poor have been exploited by various interests. San Antonio is the
foremost pecan-shelling center of the Southwest, and the industry be
fore 1939 normally employed between 6,000 and 12,000 workers. At
a labor board hearing in May, 1934, information was presented that the
average piece work wage for a 54-hour week was $1.56. A city ordi
nance passed in October, 1936, prohibited pecan shelling in the homes
of the workers, and generally tightened sanitary regulations. Following
several strikes, in 1938 the average worker s income had about doubled.
After the passage of the Federal Wage and Hour Act in that year, pecan
shelling machinery was installed by the larger operators, and employ
ment in 1939 was reduced to a maximum of not more than 4,000. How-
34 TEXAS
ever, the low employment figure was somewhat offset by the provision of
the wage law that shellers must receive 25 cents an hour, one membei
of a family in some cases thus receiving as much each week as several
members formerly did.
Though a large proportion of the Mexican population is native-
born, perhaps for generations, no other national group clings so closely
to the traditions and customs of its homeland (see Folklore).
Los Pastores, nativity play, is presented during the Christmas sea
son. (Inforfjiation as to the time and place of public performances of
Los Pastores, and of private observance of the Posadas, or Rests, can be
obtained at the International Institute, $1$ N. Pecos St.)
The popular Dia de Inocentes is celebrated by local Mexicans on
December 28. The Blessing of the An unals is observed in most of the
churches of the Mexican quarter, but especially at the Church of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, 1321 El Paso Street, on January 17. The local
Matachines dances can usually be seen at Guadalupe Church on De
cember 12. Mexicans of all ages take part in the solemn festival of the
Dia de An wias, All Souls Day, November 2, the largest observance
being at San Fernando Cemetery No. i, between S. San Marcos, Colo
rado, Tampico, and Vera Cruz Sts.
Chinese grocery stores are numerous throughout the Mexican dis
trict, though San Antonio had few Chinese residents until 1917, when
Brigadier General John J. Pershing brought back from his expedition
into Mexico 452 Chinese whose lives were in danger because of aid
rendered Americans. They were admitted as refugees, and in 1922 a
special act of Congress legalized their residence.
19. The MUNICIPAL MARKET HOUSE (open 7-7 Mon.-Fri.,
7-9:30 Sat., 6-Q a.m. Sun.), SW. corner of N. Santa Rosa Ave. and W.
Commerce St., is the hub of activity in the produce district. Though
the municipal market is a modern building, it is surrounded by an at
mosphere of other days. Venders offer unusual wares, from a live
cabrito (kid) to a penny s worth of bright dulces (candies or cakes)
or an ear of boiled sweet corn.
20. HAYMARKET PLAZA, between S. San Saba, W. Commerce
and S. Pecos Sts. and Produce Row, is an open-air produce mart by
day. But at seven o clock each evening portable chili stands are set up
here for a gay period that ends promptly at midnight. These little res
taurants are presided over by "chili queens" who serve fiery Texas-
Mexican border dishes. From 1813 until 1937 these stands were an
institution in San Antonio ; then sanitary regulations forced them off
the plaza. But in 1939 they were restored, somewhat modernized
and under strict sanitary supervision. Here wandering minstrels, in
gay charro costumes, sing for coins tossed into elaborately decorated
sombreros.
In this area are many sidewalk cafes, and stores that import exotic
foods. On the street corners, women venders sell the shredded leaves
of young prickly pears used for salad.
From the Sabine to the Rio Grande
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx^rxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*
. \,.- - /EH Vi
Ml RAL IN POST OFFICK. DALLAS /V rr
RANDOLPH FIELD (FROM 6,000 FEET)
KELLY FIELD, SAN ANTONIO
\
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PARACHUTK LOFT, RANDOLPH F1KL1)
GALVESTON FROM THE GULF, RECREATION CENTER IN FOREGROUND
Denny Huyrs
A STRING FROM AN INLAND LAKE
Dcnnv I laves
DUCK SHOOTING, BACHMAN S LAKE, NEAR DALLAS
MOTORBOAT RACING, ROY INKS LAKE, NEAR AUSTIN
BOTANIC GARDKNS. FORT WORTH
PINK SPOONBILLS, NEAR ROCKPORT
FIELD OF BLUEBONNETS, THE STATE FLOWER
.-
BROWNING ROOM, BAYLOR IM\ LRSITY, WACO
SAN ANTONIO 34!
21. WASHINGTON SQUARE, between S. San Saba, Monterey, S.
Concho and Buena Vista Sts., is a produce market where fruits and
vegetables arrive daily from California, Florida, Mexico, the Rio
Grande Valley, and the truck gardens south of San Antonio.
In the streets about the square, known to Mexicans as "Laredito,"
are shops w T hich specialize in earthenware, bristling assortments of
brushes and mats, baskets, hand-woven chairs and hampers, rock metates
used to grind corn, molcajetes, used to grind spices, and wooden
ftiolinillos with which to froth chocolate, a favorite drink. Other shops
have bins of jerked meats, and strange herbs which minister to a host
of ills and have fanciful names such as "the Dancer," the "Bad
Woman," "Christ," "the Mule." Charcoal, used as a dental powder,
is sold in cakes. Tallow candles, hand-made, hang from ropes in
bunches. Men parade the streets balancing on their heads baskets of
candies made of cactus, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, or of pecans and unre
fined loaf sugar. Street corner peddlers sell wrapped bundles of dry
corn shucks, with which the Mexican housewife makes tamale wrappers
and rolls her cigarettes.
22. MILAM SQUARE is between W. Commerce, W. Houston and
N. San Saba Sts., and N. Santa Rosa Ave. Here, on Sundays espe
cially, ragged preachers of strange doctrines and nattily dressed and
fiery politicos harangue their audiences, while many a penniless Mexican
enjoys his siesta on the grass. The GRAVE OF BEN MILAM, near the
center of the square, is marked by a granite monument on its approxi
mate location. Milam was killed during the siege of Bexar, Decem
ber, 1835. Facing the grave, but on the west edge of the square, is a
heroic-size bronze STATUE OF BEN MILAM, the work of Bonnie Mac-
Leary, sculptor.
23. The BUCKHORN (open 7:30-9 daily), 400 W. Houston St.,
successor to the widely known Buckhorn Saloon, is a curio store. It
contains a collection of horns including specimens from nearly every
horned animal, and 32,000 rattlesnake rattles gathered in Texas and
Mexico.
24. The SITE OF VERAMENDI PALACE, 130 Soledad St., has a
marker to indicate the place where the Spanish aristocracy gathered and
James Bowie wooed Ursula Veramendi before the Alamo tragedy.
Here Ben Milam fell during the storming of San Antonio. The mas
sive doors of the palace are in the Alamo Museum.
An alley between 112 and 114 Soledad St., was formerly a cattle
trail and an easement to the river. A large Capri fig tree and an ail-
anthus or "tree of heaven," and other trees and shrubs planted by Span
ish settlers, still thrive here.
25. The old TWOHIG PLACE (open 8:30-6 workdays), at the rear
of the Public Service Building, 201 N. St. Mary s St., is part of a house
erected by John Twohig about 1840. One of the city s first merchants,
Twohig was called "the breadline banker of St. Mary s Street," because
he distributed bread to the poor. The simple rectangular limestone
two-story structure remaining on the bank of the San Antonio River
342 TEXAS
has three rooms, with thick walls and recessed windows. Extending
to the river s edge is a circular patio with a stone floor, enclosed by a
ten-foot rock wall.
26. ST MARY S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, SE. corner N.
St. Mary s and College Sts., a modern edifice of modified Romanesque
style, was designed by Fred B. Gaenslen, on the site of an earlier struc
ture built in 1855. At the rear is the former ST. MARY S COLLEGE,
founded in 1852, and used as the night school of St. Mary s University.
27. The URSULINE CONVENT AND ACADEMY, NW. corner
of N. St. Mary s and Navarro Sts., was established in 1851 when nuns
from New Orleans converted a deserted mansion into the first local
boarding school for girls. The clock on the tower has no face on the
north side, because when it was installed it was not expected that resi
dents would ever live so far out of town as to need it.
28. The MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM, in the center of Audi
torium Circle, was built as a memorial to World War dead, at a cost
of $1,500,000. This limestone building of Mediterranean design was
awarded, at Memphis, Tenn., in 1930, the gold medal in architectural
composition for municipal buildings, in competition with buildings rep
resenting 1 6 States. Architects were Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres,
with George Willis and Emmett Jackson.
29. ST. MARK S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NW. corner of Jeffer
son and Pecan Sts., cornerstone laid in 1859, is built of stone in a man
ner suggesting the English Gothic style, with its ivy-covered walls and
shaded, informal garden. Its bell was made from a cannon buried by
revolutionists in San Antonio in 1813, and the ground on which it
stands once belonged to the Alamo property. An early member of the
congregation was Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, who was made a
life member of the first missionary society in 1860. The PARISH HOUSE
adjoining the church is of more recent construction, but carries out the
modified English Gothic style.
30. TRAVIS PARK, between Pecan, Travis, Navarro, and Jefferson
Sts., was named for William Barret Travis, Alamo hero.
31. The U. S. POST OFFICE AND COURTHOUSE, between E.
Houston, E. Travis and N. Alamo Sts. and Ave. E, is a five-story
building of cream-colored limestone in modern Spanish Colonial style,
designed by Ralph Cameron, architect, and erected in 1935-37 at a cost
of approximately $1,864,000. Murals in the lobby were painted by
Howard Cook of Taos, New Mexico, and include, on the southwest
and north walls, subjects of Texas history, while on the east wall are
scenes illustrating the State s industries and resources. The spot on
which the building stands was a part of the Alamo battlefield, and,
years before that, the burial ground of Mission San Antonio de Valero.
32. The SCOTTISH RITE TEMPLE (open 8-5 workdays; guides),
SE. corner Ave. E. and Fourth St., has the design of a Greek temple
with a pyramidal roof, the material being light gray limestone trimmed
with terra cotta. Ralph Cameron was the architect. Heavy entrance
doors were sculptured by Pompeo Coppini. The right door portrays
SAN ANTONIO 343
Sam Houston as he presided over the convention that organized the first
Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas; the left door portrays George Wash
ington as he presided over Alexandria Lodge of Virginia as Master.
The cornerstone was laid in 1922 by the Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F.
& A.M., and the cost of the building was $1,500,000.
33. A TYPICAL ADOBE AND ROCK HOUSE OF THE 1850*5
(private), 231 Nacogdoches St., one of the few remaining houses of the
"Irish Flats" a section of the city settled in 1830-1860 is almost
flush with the street and has a narrow front porch supported by small
posts, and the high roof common to such early houses, with a low-
roofed extension in the rear.
34. FORT SAM HOUSTON, beginning at Grayson St. and N.
New Braunfels Ave., the largest army post in the United States, is head
quarters of the Eighth Corps Area with jurisdiction over all troops in
Texas and New Mexico, parts of Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado,
Wyoming, and Fort Warren and Pole Mountain Reservations. The
post covers 3,330 acres. Its peacetime strength is 248 officers and 5,413
enlisted men, but the large staff of civilian workers, and the families
of the army personnel, make the population close to 10,000. Twenty-
nine miles of fine roads wind through the post. (Speed limit JO m. an
hour.)
At the border of the reservation, Grayson and N. Pine Sts, is the
STAFF POST, of massive two-story stone residences. Adjoining is the
QUADRANGLE, completed in 1879, when the thick, solid walls of Texas
limestone were intended as a real fort capable of withstanding attacks.
All rooms face upon the inner court, entrance being made through
a sally port in the south (Grayson St.) wall. The 88-foot clock tower
in the center of the Quadrangle was once used as a watch-tower.
The INFANTRY POST is on N. New Braunfels Ave. at Grayson St.,
and the newer sections lie to the north and east.
As early as 1845 the Government recognized the importance of
establishing a military post in San Antonio, and in 1870 the city donated
a part of the present site. The name was selected in honor of General
Sam Houston and the fort so designated in 1890. It attracted little
national attention, however, until 1898, when the Rough Riders were
organized in San Antonio and rationed and equipped by officers from
Fort Sam Houston.
The fort s next historical event occurred in 1910, when Lieutenant
Benjamin D. Foulois, a student of the Wright brothers, arrived and
uncrated a collection of bamboo poles constructed around a gas engine.
The United States Congress had bought him an old Wright plane
that had been wrecked once, and appropriated $150 for its upkeep.
Foulois spent $300 of his own money repairing the plane. He made
his first flight March 2, 1910, getting the ship off the ground by having
it hurled from a catapult. That was the beginning of the Army Air
Corps.
During the Mexican border troubles, 1916-18, and the period of
the World War, Fort Sam Houston became a recruiting and training
344 TEXAS
center. The i8th and QOth Divisions were organized and trained here.
By 1917 there were 46,000 men and 800 acres of buildings at the post.
In 1928 a program of construction was inaugurated, and nearly $6,-
000,000 spent in the erection of new buildings of all types, making it
one of the most attractively arranged and efficient army posts in the
country.
The seven stories and tower of the $2,214,000 STATION HOSPITAL,
completed in 1938, dominate the new section of the post. Its main
building is constructed of tapestry brick, and the general lines follow a
modified Spanish Colonial style. The hospital has a normal capacity
of 434 patients.
35. BRACKENRIDGE PARK, entrance on Broadway at Pershing
Ave., the city s largest outdoor recreational area, covers 320 acres. It
was acquired through George W. Brackenridge in 1899. All-weather
driveways traverse the park, and the San Antonio River winds through
it. Included among the recreational facilities are tennis courts, a
municipal golf course, picnic facilities, and a large swimming pool.
The WITTE MEMORIAL MUSEUM (open 9:30-5 workdays, 1-5:30
Sun., adm. adults 10$, except Wed. and Sat., free), is at the main park
entrance in the 3800 block on Broadway. It is built in Mediterranean
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
SAN ANTONIO. Points of Interest
34. Fort Sam Houston
35. Brackenridge Park
36. College and Academy of the Incarnate Word
37. Argyle Hotel
38. Olmos Dam
39. San Pedro Park
40. Chapel of Miracles
41. National Shrine of the Little Flower
42. Our Lady of the Lake College
43. San Antonio Horse and Mule Market
44. Union Stockyards
45. United States Arsenal
46. Mission Concepcion
47. Roosevelt Park
48. Mission San Jose
49. Stinson Field
50. Mission Aqueduct
51. Mission San Francisco de la Espada
52. Mission San Juan Capistrano
Austin
Ft. Worth
Randolph Field A
SAN ANTONIO
1940
LEGEND
U.S.,State Highways
Connecting Streets
>H**2 forks Railroads
Bridges City Boundary
Rivers Property Lines
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest-Symbol
m\^ Military Reservation f" Golfing
346 TEXAS
style, Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres, architects. Outstanding exhibits
are in the West Texas Cave Dweller Hall and the Hall of Texas
History. Several expeditions sponsored by the museum have recovered
artifacts believed to have been left by a race of cave dwellers (see First
Americans). The Hall of Texas History contains a large collection
of branding irons and a wealth of memorabilia of early Texas. A large
art gallery occupies the upper floor, where usually the prize-winning
paintings of Edgar B. Davis competitions of 1926-27-28 are on exhibi
tion (see Arts and Handicrafts). In an enclosure at the rear of the
Museum is the PIONEER LOG CABIN, a reproduction of an early-day
dog-run house, furnished from the museum s collection of old pieces. A
split rail fence enhances the frontier atmosphere.
The PIONEER MEMORIAL BUILDING (open 10-12, 7-5 ivorkdays
and holidays, 7-5 Sun., free), R. of the Witte Museum, is dedicated to
the Old Trail Drivers Association, Texas Pioneers, and Texas Rangers.
The limestone building of Italian design was erected with funds allo
cated by the United States-Texas Centennial Commission, at a cost of
$100,000. Architects were Ayres and Ayres, and Phelps and Dewees.
The REPTILE GARDEN (open 9-5 daily, weather permitting; adm.
70g), R. of the Memorial Building and facing Broadway, has a display
of snakes of many kinds, rattlesnakes predominating. Usually present
in the pit is at least one attendant who gives information to visitors,
sometimes with demonstrations. On Sunday afternoons (weather per
mitting), free rattlesnake meat sandwiches are served, from snakes
dressed and cooked in the visitors presence.
The SAN ANTONIO ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN is L. of the Witte Me
morial Museum, and past the first crossing of the river. The large
African Panorama with natural pits for all types of animals many of
the areas being entirely devoid of bars was constructed in an aban
doned rock quarry, which left a series of cliffs, caves, and pinnacles
calling for little work to develop open-air quarters where carnivora,
bears, members of the monkey family and even waterfowl feel at home.
During 1940, a combined Work Projects Administration and municipal
program was in progress, and had provided barless quarters for most of
the zoo animals. That project, combined with earlier improvements,
was calculated to make this one of the major zoological gardens in the
United States. MONKEY ISLAND is equipped with swimming pool,
diving boards, ladders, trapezes, and other means of simian entertain
ment. Buster and Sissy, chimpanzees, give free stage shows every week
day except Monday, at 1 1 and 3:15, and on Sundays at u, 2:30, and
3:45.
The JAPANESE GARDEN, NW. edge of Brackenridge Park, is
reached by means of the Alpine Drive, L. of the zoo. This steep, wind
ing ascent leads around and down to a great bowl, once a rock quarry
and later a municipal garbage dump, where an Oriental lily pond and
Japanese tea house replace former eyesores. A Japanese family serves
tea on request.
SAN ANTONIO 347
The SUNKEN GARDEN THEATER adjoins the Japanese Garden
on the R. It occupies an abandoned rock quarry which has been trans
formed into an outdoor theater, where civic operas are presented during
the summer. A stage of classic Grecian design (Harvey P. Smith,
architect), with a mechanical compression screen that rises from the
stage floor like an inverted window shade, dominates the scene. The
seating capacity is 3,100.
The ALAMO STADIUM, entrances on Alpine Drive at the Sunken
Garden, Hildebrand Ave. near Devine Road, W. side of Dial Ave. be
tween Hildebrand and Bushnell Aves., and Hildebrand Ave. at W.
limits of Brackenridge Park, was under construction in 1940. Designed
by Phelps and Dewees and Simmons, San Antonio architects, to seat
more than 23,000 persons, the stadium was sponsored by the San An
tonio Independent School District for school and college football and
other athletics and for outdoor civic events. The west side of the huge
bowl was constructed on the sides of an abandoned rock quarry with
the entrance at the top, while the north end and east sides were built
up from ground level with entrances below; the south end is open,
allowing for additional seating capacity to be constructed. The cost
was $477,000. A 3O-acre tract surrounding the structure is used for
parking.
The MEXICAN VILLAGE, entrance W. edge of the park, is reached by
continuing on the main driveway past the Sunken Garden, to the R.
Here a thatched village, with weaving and pottery industries, presents
a picture of Old Mexico.
36. The COLLEGE AND ACADEMY OF THE INCARNATE
WORD (open 8:30-5 workdays) , 4515 Broadway, at the headwaters
of the San Antonio River, has eight red brick buildings designed in a
modified Romanesque style by Fred Gaenslen, and covers 230 acres.
The site was purchased by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
in 1897. The institution is primarily a college of liberal arts, but in
cludes a school of nursing in affiliation with Santa Rosa Hospital,, and
courses leading to degrees in Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Sci
ence.
37- The ARGYLE HOTEL, 934 Argyle Ave., is a stately, three-
story plantation type stone and frame house with wide verandas sup
ported by massive pillars. It was built in 1859 by Colonel Charles An
derson as headquarters for his ranch, but was sold at the beginning
of the Civil War when Colonel Anderson, opposed to secession, left the
State. Since 1893 it has been a family hotel. The building is within
the corporate limits of Alamo Heights, a separate municipality.
38. OLMOS DAM, erected after a disastrous flood in 1921, to prevent
waters of the Olmos basin from flowing too rapidly into the San
Antonio River, extends 1,300 feet from the boundary of Alamo
Heights across Olmos Creek, with a 24-foot roadway along the top.
Only at times of very heavy rains is there any water behind the dam.
39. SAN PEDRO PARK, San Pedro Ave. between W. Ashby PL
and Myrtle St., extending to N. Flores St., is an old Indian council
348 TEXAS
ground. Past the swimming pool (L) and facing San Pedro Avenue
at the R. is the municipally owned San Pedro Playhouse, used by the
San Antonio Little Theater and also for lectures and concerts.
40. The CHAPEL OF MIRACLES (open 6-10 dally}, 113 Ruiz St.,
is a small gray stuccoed house that has served as a shrine to thousands
of Mexicans and others who attribute miraculous powers to the saint of
the chapel, whose figure is represented on a wooden crucifix. This
shrine is not sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, but is regarded
with deep veneration by pilgrims from near and far.
A skirt of blue satin on the figure of the crucifix is always covered
with small images, pinned there by people who believe themselves cured
by El Senor de los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles). Miniature
metal arms, legs, hearts, and images of other parts of the body represent
the members cured, and those of animals represent the curing of live
stock.
41. The NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE LITTLE FLOWER,
SW. corner N. Zarzamora St. and Kentucky Ave., a Roman Catholic
church, was erected in 1931 in Spanish Renaissance design at a cost of
$500,000; C. L. Monnot, architect. The Little Flower group and the
statue of the Blessed Mother were imported from Spain, stations of the
cross from Germany. Three altars are of Carrara marble. The walls
bear tablets of white marble on which are inscribed the names of those
who, from all over the globe, contributed to the erection of the building.
Services are conducted by the Discalced Carmelite Order.
42. OUR LADY OF THE LAKE COLLEGE, W. 2 4 th St. between
Cortez and Niagara Sts., extending to Columbus Ave., is an imposing
group of cream brick and stone buildings of Gothic architecture, de
signed by Leo M. J. Dielmann, architect. The convent of the Sisters
of Divine Providence, who conduct this college, and the residence of
retired Sisters of the Order form part of the group. Exclusive of the
convent and chapel, the grounds and buildings represent an investment
of $1,500,000.
Opened as a secondary school in 1896, the college, approved by the
Association of American Universities in 1931, offers regular four-year
courses leading to the A.B. degree, the degrees of Bachelor of Science
and Bachelor of Music. A library of 34,000 volumes contains the
John C. Kenedy History Collection and rare books in Latin and
Spanish.
43. At the SAN ANTONIO HORSE AND MULE MARKET,
SE. corner S. San Marcos and S. Laredo Sts., a weekly auction is held
on Thursdays. Horses and mules are brought from all parts of the
Southwest, with hundreds of other animals sold simply from descrip
tion. Often representatives of foreign governments are bidders.
44. The UNION STOCKYARDS (open day and night], 1715 S.
San Marcos St., cover 34 acres surrounded by eight packing plants.
From this district cattle are shipped. These stockyards provide a
glimpse of the West, for here ten-gallon hats and high-heeled boots are
numerous, and speech is in the phraseology of the open range.
SAN ANTONIO 349
45. UNITED STATES ARSENAL (closed to the public}, NE. cor
ner of S. Flores and Arsenal Sts., founded in 1858, is the oldest military
institution in the city. It is used for the storage and repair of small
arms, machine guns, and other ordnance. The garrison is small, con
sisting largely of expert workmen employed in the machine shops.
TOUR OF THE MISSIONS
(Sight-seeing busses make this trip twice daily.}
From the ALAMO, m. t the route of this 18.9 ;//. tour is south
on Alamo Plaza; continue on S. Alamo St. to S. St. Mary s St. ; L. on
S. St. Mary s St. (at the railroad underpass S. St. Mary s becomes
Roosevelt Ave.) ; R. from Roosevelt Ave. on Mitchell St. to Mission
Road; L. on Mission Road.
45. MISSION CONCEPCION (Nuestra Senora de la Purisima
Concepcion de Acuna; Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of
Acuna), (open 8-6 workdays, Q-6 Sun. } adm. io<f), 2.9 m., is the best
preserved of the Texas missions.
Danger from the French in Louisiana caused the reestablishment in
the San Antonio area in 1731, of Mission Concepcion and two other
east Texas missions which had been founded in 1716. Mission Con
cepcion is owned by the Roman Catholic Church, which conducts serv
ices in the chapel on special occasions.
The original frescoes in its rooms are very rare ; vegetable and mineral
dyes, red, blue, and ochre, were used. The front of the church retains
some of its frescoed color. In the baptistry, the first room at the right,
above a carved font set into the wall, a fine fresco of Our Lady of Seven
Sorrows is partly visible, and above that, a fresco of the crucifixion.
Opposite on the left, in the belfry room, elaborate frescoed designs
adorn the corners and doorways. These paintings were done by the
monks.
Concepcion is built of adobe and a porous gray rock called tufa,
quarried near the mission. The tufa, similar to the stone in the cata
combs of Rome, was carried piece by piece on the backs of Indian
converts, the priests doing most of the construction and all of the
engineering. The church follows the usual cruciform floor pattern,
with two small offsets for the identical twin towers and a slightly
pointed cupola surmounting the dome and the crossing of nave and
transept. Hand-hewn stones were used for cornices and door frames.
The north and east walls are heavily buttressed and have no openings,
a precaution against attacks. All walls are 45 inches thick.
The acoustics of the chapel under the dome have been compared to
those of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Above the arch over the central front door is an inscription dedicat
ing the mission to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.
Strongly reminiscent of the ancient Roman aqueduct in Segovia,
350 TEXAS
Spain, is the simple arcade which runs south from the front entrance
to the church. Three doorways open from this cloister. The first door
opens into the former storeroom, with the old timbers from which hung
curing meat. The second chamber was the living room of the padres,
and the roof has two vents, one for light and one for smoke. The third
room is the library, with bookshelves of stone. The former infirmary,
above the sacristy, is reached by climbing worn stone stairs.
To the R. of the road at this mission is the SITE OF THE BATTLE OF
COXCEPCION (see History), extending into Concepcion Park. Entrance
to the park is from Theo Avenue.
Continue on Mission Road.
47. At the old Fairgrounds near ROOSEVELT PARK, 3.4 m. (L),
Theodore Roosevelt organized and trained the Rough Riders.
48. MISSION SAN JOSE (San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, St.
Joseph and St. Michael of Aguayo), (open 8:15-5 daily in winter,
8:15-6:30 in summer, adm. lotf), 5.1 m.
Mission San Jose has been restored to the condition which made it
known as the "queen of the missions." Among its features are a carved
window, circular stairs to the belfry, fine cloisters, an old granary
(restored), and the mill (restored).
In 1719 Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus, who had been driven from
east Texas by the French, obtained permission from the governor of
Texas to found a mission in the valley of the San Antonio River. San
Jose, established on February 23, 1720, became the most beautiful, most
prosperous and best fortified of all Texas missions, and held supreme
position in New Spain. After its secularization the Roman Catholic
Church retained possession of only the chapel and 15 acres.
The San Antonio Conservation Society purchased the old granary
and completed its restoration in 1933. Civil Works Administration
funds in 1934 made possible the beginning of a complete restoration
program, carried out after research from the records of San Francisco
el Grande, the mother house of the Franciscans in Mexico.
The Indian pueblo of 84 compartments, the soldiers quarters, gran
ary, and civilian officers quarters, all form part of the immense quad
rangle wall. The restored OLD MILL is north of the acequia, which
runs a few feet outside the north wall. North of the old mill is the
HUISACHE BOWL, an outdoor theater having a rustic stage, used for
historical plays and pageants.
Mission San Jose is built of brown sandstone and tufa, and its rich
sculptural ornamentation has made it one of the most photographed
buildings in America. Complete restoration has made possible here the
picture of an ancient mission establishment, even including an outdoor
oven and a water system conducted through hand-made tiles. The most
modern note is found toward the top of the beautiful Gothic arches of
rooms in the convent wing, where red bricks were placed by Benedic
tine monks in 1859. Padre Morfi (1778) related that ducks and other
wild game could be shot from the cloister roof.
The building problem of the Franciscans was colossal. When the
SAN ANTONIO 351
walls grew too high to be reached from the ground, tradition says, earth
was packed in the enclosure, the walls raised, more earth packed in,
and the process repeated. When the spring line of the roof was
reached, with earth molded beneath, the arched roof was built. The
flying buttresses of the granary were constructed of great rocks, yet one
of the missionaries complained that the Indians "are by nature inclined
to idleness and they work very slowly." Tobacco was rationed to them
as one means of persuasion.
The carving of the church of Mission San Jose is considered its
most notable feature. The upper part of the front facade, with its
simple wreath of curving acanthus leaves and conchoids framing the
small windows above the archway, is as skillfully done as the rich carv
ing of the doorway below. The carving of pillars, niches, and sculp
tured saints in a background of profuse ornamentation was condemned
by Padre Morfi with the words, "The main entrance is very costly, on
account of the statues and trifling mouldings." While the building
itself is of simple Moorish and Spanish origin, the stone carvings reflect
rich Renaissance influence of the Churrigueresque school of Spanish
Baroque.
The church has only one tower, with a pyramid top and an open
belfry which is reached through a round turret housing an ingeniously
designed stairway. Each of the 23 steps is hewn from a single live oak
log, set with each step fanwise over the preceding one, in such a way
that the pivot end resembles a pillar cutting through the center of the
spiral. Above the heavily buttressed walls of the church a hemispherical
dome rises 60 feet in height, almost as tall as the 75-foot tower. The
chapel at the right of the church has three small flat Moorish domes.
The carved south window of the sacristy, incorrectly designated as
the "rose window" by many writers, has been painted by great artists.
Legends concerning Pedro Huizar, the sculptor, who for five years
toiled on this small area, are too numerous for a correct version ; but the
substance of the stories is that the window was the result of an unhappy
romance, which caused Huizar to pour his heart into this work.
Huizar s son, Juan Antonio, inherited title to the granary and his family
retained the title for 116 years. Ancestors of the sculptor helped create
the beauty of the Alhambra at Granada.
In the chapel are three old paintings said to have been gifts from
the King of Spain.
On leaving Mission San Jose drive out the SE. entrance ; L. is the
modern monastery of the Franciscans, just outside the mission wall.
Continue on Mission Road.
49. STINSON FIELD, 7 m. (R), municipal airport and air mail
station, was founded in 1915. There are several flying fields in the
vicinity.
At 7.5 m. is the junction with Ashley Road; L. on Ashley Road.
At 7.8 77z. is the junction with the Espada Road; R. on Espada Road.
The quaint highway leading to Mission Espada winds through one
of the oldest settlements in the State. Small farms of the area date
352 TEXAS
from the period following the secularization of the missions (1793-94),
when the converts were given church lands. Many of these families
possess old statues and ornaments of the mission, which is the hub of
their settlement, but will not restore them because of their reputed
miraculous powers. Note the line of trees (L) which marks the main
acequia of Mission Espada.
50. An ancient MISSION AQUEDUCT is indicated at 7.8 m. (L)
by a marker near the spot where the acequia, by means of a graceful
masonry arch, spans Piedra Creek. Thus, water from the San Antonio
River, half a league distant, is conveyed to the small fields of this sec
tion an engineering feat considered to be remarkable.
The Espada Road leads directly into another mission quadrangle.
51. MISSION SAN FRANCISCO DE LA ESPADA (Mission St.
Francis of the Sword), (open daytime, no regular hours, free), 9.3 m.,
was established at the same time as Mission Concepcion. The Roman
Catholic Church, which owns the mission, conducts services regularly in
the chapel. Barracks of the old fort (restored), in the southeast part
of the quadrangle wall, are used to house a school for children of nearby
families. Espada has retained its Old World atmosphere. Families
living here follow the humble pursuits taught their forefathers by the
monks.
The baluarte or fortified tower, claimed to be the only complete
mission fort extant, has a round bastion with vaulted roof, three-foot-
thick stone walls, strongly buttressed, and portholes for rifles and can
non. The rough stone chapel has no tower, but an extension of the
fort wall rising into an open bell gable or campanario is surmounted by
a wrought iron piece said to have been fashioned by the padres. The
main Moorish doorway (upper part) copies the design of the carved
window of Mission San Jose.
The plain wooden cross standing beside the chapel door was placed
there as a reminder of a saving deluge which, according to tradition,
fell in response to the congregation s prayers after a long drought.
Statues at Espada are hand-carved of wood, probably of native trees,
and glass eyes, separately cut teeth, and flexible joints give them real
ism. Walls and buildings of this mission have been seriously damaged
by treasure hunters. Old silver church vessels are kept in the school
(adm. by request).
Retrace Espada Road ; R. on Mission Road ; after crossing river,
R. on San Juan Mission Road.
52. MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO (Mission St. John
Capistrano), (open daily, no regular hours, free), 11.6 m., was also
reestablished here in 1731. Services are held Sundays by the Roman
Catholic Church, which owns the mission, reputed to have converted
many Indians to Christianity. No attempt was made at sculptured
decoration, but the walls are thick, the rooms commodious, and the use
of frescoes created a cheerful atmosphere.
SAN ANTONIO 353
Most of the original square remains within the walls, offering an
authentic picture of the mission plan. The convent, chapel, workrooms,
and living quarters of the establishment are in varying degrees of repair.
The chapel was rebuilt in 1907. In this mission, flat arches prevail
rather than round ones; and pointed gables are a departure from other
Franciscan architecture. Another unusual feature is the pierced cam-
panario, which rises above the entrance in lieu of a steeple.
Retrace to Mission Road; R. on Mission Road, L. on US 181;
straight ahead on US 181 (S. Presa St. inside the city limits) ; R.
on S. Alamo St. ; continue on S. Alamo to Alamo Plaza.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Kelly Field, 5 m.; Randolph Field, 17.5 m. (see Tour 8c) ; Medina Lake,
38.9 m. (see Tour 17 A}.
For further information regarding this cit\ t see SAN ANTONIO ,
AN AUTHORITATIVE GUIDE, another of the American Guide
Series, published in April, 1938.
Waco
Railroad Stations: Jackson and S. 8th Sts., for Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines;
Union Station, Mary and S. 4th Sts., for Missouri Pacific Lines, Southern
Pacific Lines, and St. Louis Southwestern Ry. ; Washington Ave. and N. 4th
St. for Texas Electric Ry.
Bus Station: Southwestern Greyhound Station, 806 Austin Ave., for Bee Line
Coaches, Inc., Arrow Coach Lines, Central Texas Bus Lines and Southwestern
Greyhound Lines.
Airport: Rich Field, 3 m. W. of business district at end of Bosque Ave., for
Braniff Airways, Inc.; taxi 50^, time 20 min.
City Busses: Fare 5^.
Taxis: Fares, Yellow Cabs and Green Ball Cabs 25^ a call; others 10^, 20^
for cross-town trips, 15^ a mile additional outside city limits.
Traffic Regulations: No left turns on Austin Ave. downtown except at 4th,
8th, 9th, nth and iath Sts.; right turns on red lights. Parking meters between
4th and gth Sts., 5^ for i hour on Austin Ave., 5^ for 2 hours elsewhere.
Accommodations: 12 hotels, numerous tourist courts, auto camps, and rooming
houses.
Information Service: Waco Chamber of Commerce, 414 Franklin Ave.
Radio Station: WACO (1420 kc.).
Golf: Waco Municipal Golf Course, S. i2th St., 18 holes, 50^ Sat., Sun. and
holidays, others days 35^.
Tennis: 14 municipal courts, Cameron Park, 1200 block N. 4th St.
Swimming: Municipal Pool, Cameron Park, 15^ and 25^.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Texas Cotton Palace, 1300 Clay St.,
concerts and road shows; Waco Hall 600-620 Speight St., road shows and uni
versity events; 5 motion picture houses.
Annual Events: Brazos Valley Fair and Livestock Show, Texas Cotton Palace,
autumn.
WACO (427 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 53,848; est. pop. 1940,
58,000), pronounced Way-co, lying in the wide valley of the Brazos
River a big green bowl rimmed about by the low hills of the Balcones
Escarpment is a thoroughly modern city, the cultural and educational
center of east central Texas. Through Baylor University, it annually
sends forth hundreds of teachers and professional men and women whose
activities extend to all parts of the State and to many sections of the
Southwest. The muddy Rio de los Brazos de Dios bisects Waco, and
its rich black bottom lands have given it cotton, its greatest source of
wealth.
Negroes still sing and sweat in the broad outlying cotton fields, and
cowmen frequent Waco s elm-shaded streets, but false-fronted saloons
have been replaced by tall hotels ; old cattle trails are boulevards. River-
bank slums, locally called Rat Row, have grown into an industrial zone.
Through the three-quarters of a century since its founding, Waco
has grown steadily and without spectacular boom periods. In 1890 it
354
WACO 355
awoke to the importance of its natural attractions and began the cultiva
tion of a series of parks, the land in most instances donated by citizens.
Rotan Drive, a park strip, follows the west bank of the Brazos River
for about a mile, from the north end of Washington Avenue to Cameron
Park, which is the neighborhood of Waco s most attractive residential
district.
The city s general arrangement is geometrically regular, with wide,
straight, parallel streets, the poorer district lying east and north of the
business section, which centers on the west side of the river. Schools
and libraries, parks and hotels, churches and residences lie to the south
and west.
Waco is a commercial center, ranking among the leading inland
cotton markets of the world, and metropolis of an area from which up
to 2,000,000 bales of cotton are marketed annually. It is the home of
numerous life insurance companies, among them the oldest legal reserve
life insurance company in the Southwest. Wholesale houses, ware
houses, railroad and machine shops crowd the city s commercial section,
while a textile mill and a large saddlery factory give added importance
to its industrial life.
The Negro population of more than 9,000 is divided into three
principal settlements, east, south, and north of the city s business dis
trict. In these localities are three elementary schools, all two-story
brick buildings, for Negro children. There are also one high school
and one college. Community life in the settlements is expressed through
numerous churches and fraternal organizations. Among Waco s Negro
citizens are doctors, dentists, lawyers, and other professional men.
Many Waco Negroes own their homes and some also own business
and rental property. The Farmer s Improvement Bank is a Negro
institution.
Though the town was not officially established until 1849, its story
goes back to Indian occupation. Tradition says in that undated time
the Great Spirit led the Wacos, from whom the name of the city is
derived, to the fertile valley of the Brazos, promising that as long as
they drank from the gushing springs their people would nourish. The
Wacos, whose name was later spelled Hueco by the Spaniards, were a
subtribe of the Tawakoni.
They built permanent homes under a grove of live oaks, and culti
vated corn, beans, and pumpkins. Here they lived beside the springs,
of which some were warm and possessed medicinal qualities, and
nourished until 1829, when in retaliation for a raid on their ponies
Cherokees attacked the Waco village, drove the tribe away, and razed
the settlement.
But the region was not cleared of Indians. Their dangerous
activities prevented settlement of whites until the Scotsman, Neil Mc
Lennan, and Captain George B. Erath, surveyors, pushed into the
vicinity in 1840.
Intrigued by the natural attractions of the site of the present city,
they brought their families and built log cabins in the wilderness beside
356 TEXAS
the Bosque, a tributary of the Brazos, which enters the larger stream
at Cameron Park. They were followed in 1848 by Captain Thomas
H. Barron, who built a log house, parts of which are incased in the
two-story residence standing at North Seventh Street and Jefferson
Avenue.
The town site was laid out in 1849. The first town lot, sold to
Shapley P. Ross, was a riverside tract at the foot of present Washington
Avenue. At this point on the Brazos he operated a ferry boat, on which
he collected tolls ranging from 10^ for foot passengers to $1.50 for
four horses and a wagon. This ferry brought traders, freighters, hunt
ers, and travelers in such numbers that Ross built a hotel, the first in
the city.
A Methodist missionary, Joseph P. Sneed, came to the region in
1849 and preached the first sermon in a log cabin. He spent the night
under a tree, sleeping on his saddle blankets, and was awakened by the
howling of wolves. He began the organization of his church, and in
1850 a building w r as erected by the Methodists on Second Street and
Franklin Avenue.
Forces of law and order were rapidly organized. The first district
court began its sittings on April 14, 1851. The next day, Richard
Coke, later Governor of Texas, was licensed by this court to practice
law. The county commissioners issued land scrip for a school fund.
The following November, Dr. Alexander Montgomery Barnett
with his family arrived in a wagon. They traded two bedquilts and a
rag carpet, brought from Kentucky, for ten acres of land, and Doctor
Barnett announced his readiness to perform the services of a country
physician.
Settlers from the Southern States brought educational ideals and
traditions, and Waco Female College was established by the Methodists
in 1859. The Baptists founded Waco University in 1861. Baylor
University absorbed Waco University in 1885.
The community s growth was interrupted by the Civil War. Waco
furnished six high ranking officers to the Confederate cause: Lawrence
Sullivan Ross, J. E. Harrison, Hiram Granbury, W. H. Parsons, J. W.
Speight, and Thomas Harrison. The citizens, almost to a man, rushed
to the Confederate standard, and many families were left without sup
port. By 1862 taxes were levied at 5^ per $100 for food and medical
attention for the indigent. In 1864 the county bought 2,ooo bushels
of wheat, 20,000 pounds of bacon, 5,000 pounds of wool, and 10,000
pounds of cotton for 254 destitute families.
During the war Bayliss Earle ran the blockade with machinery for
a cotton mill, which blazed the way for Waco s economic development.
During the Reconstruction period, settlers came from the ruined
Southern States, seeking new livelihoods. Cattle moved up the trails
toward northern markets, and on January 6, 1870, a suspension bridge
replaced the ferry on the Brazos. There was no other bridge across
this stream, and travelers journeying westward swarmed through Waco,
which began to grow and to lose the decorum that had graced its earlier
WACO 357
years. From a dignified, live-oak shaded village, steeped in the tradi
tions of the South, Waco became a rip-roaring frontier town of false-
fronted hotels and notorious gambling halls. Great herds of cattle,
wagons loaded with hides, cotton, and wheat, and long freighting trains
lumbered across the bridge. Rampaging cowboys and lawless buffalo
hunters shattered the ancient calm. The Star Variety Theater, ever
noted for its rough clientele, found itself but one among many other
amusement resorts.
Judge John W. Oliver, an appointee of Governor Davis carpetbag
regime, sought to impose unwelcome ideas upon the community, but
was blocked by the county court which, representing the citizenship,
refused to vote funds necessary to support an increased sheriff s force.
Thereupon, Judge Oliver ordered the entire county court into jail.
The members of the court were prominent men and a movement
was started to lynch the judge. On the suggestion of a local physician
that Judge Oliver was mentally unbalanced, a declaration of his in
sanity was drawn. A writ was issued by the imprisoned county court,
and a constable who was not in jail arrested the judge and placed him
behind bars on a charge of lunacy. This unusual situation, where both
courts were in jail simultaneously, resolved itself harmlessly by the
release of each court by the other.
With the advent of the railroads in 1881, Waco was quickly
converted into a progressive city. The population had increased to
20,000 by 1890, and with the surrounding country developing rapidly
as a rich agricultural region, it became evident that an inadequate
water supply was an obstacle to steady growth. Like the Indians, the
early settlers had quenched their thirst at Waco Springs. Since 1877
recurrent attempts had been made to supply the town with river water
or from small artesian wells. Between 1918 and 1923 the water situa
tion was critical. In 1929 a dam was finished on the Bosque, four miles
west of the city, and the resulting Lake Waco, draining 1,670 square
miles, furnished an ample supply of pure water.
Culturally, the city has kept pace with its industrial and economic
development. Libraries, schools, and churches form a dominant part of
its civic life.
Waco was the home of three Governors Richard Coke, Sul Ross,
and Pat Neff. The late Dr. Dorothy Scarborough, novelist and essayist,
and her brother, George Moore Scarborough, playwright, passed their
youth here and were educated at Baylor University. The Negro singer,
Jules Bledsoe, who became nationally known for his singing of "Old
Alan River" in Show Boat, was born in Waco.
Though the city has lost all traces of pioneer days, it has preserved
a few houses of the ante bellum period.
POINTS OF INTEREST
i. The old SUSPENSION BRIDGE OVER THE BRAZOS crosses
the river at Bridge St., formerly called Rat Row. When the bridge
35$ TEXAS
was opened it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the
United States, and the second longest in the world. Its single span of
475 feet is supported by four great towers containing 2,700,000 bricks
made in Waco. The bridge was designed by Thomas Griffing. August
Roebling, of New York, manufactured the wire cables, which were
shipped by sea to Galveston and hauled by ox team to Waco.
2. WACO SPRINGS, just below the suspension bridge on the west
side of the Brazos, at one time provided sufficient water to supply a
Waco Indian village. As the Wacos were being removed to a reserva
tion, they took a last drink from their revered spring. It is protected by
a concrete rim, and a small public park has been created around it.
3. The Roman Catholic CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS ON THE
BRAZOS (open 6-7:40 daily), NW. corner N. 3d St. and Jefferson
Ave., a reproduction of Mission San Jose in San Antonio, was built in
1931, after months of painstaking study of the old mission by the
architect, Roy E. Lane. The facade is ornamented with six life-size
statues of saints, and the entire arch of the entrance is carved in a
flower and fruit design, its stone carving done by Frank T. Johnson.
The famous sacristy window of San Jose has been faithfully reproduced.
All services are in Spanish.
4. The SITE OF A WACO VILLAGE, NW. corner Barron Ave.
and N. 6th St., is occupied by a Negro church. Rangers scouting
through the region before the coming of white settlers came upon the
remains of the Waco village. When the Waco Theater was built near
by, on 6th Street, Indian skeletons were unearthed.
5. CAMERON PARK on Rotan Drive has an entrance marked by
large stone columns with bronze tablets. This 5OO-acre park has large
springs, clear streams, and thickly wooded hills. Great banks of flowers
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
WACO. Points of Interest
1. Old Suspension Bridge over the Brazos
2. Waco Springs
3. Church of St. Francis on the Brazos
4. Site of a Waco Village
5. Cameron Park
6. Paul Quinn College
7. Texas Masonic Grand Lodge Building
8. Baylor University
9. Texas Cotton Palace Park
10. Veterans Administration Facility
11. Home for Neglected and Dependent Children
12. Lake Waco
Corsicono
4
4
Worth
COTTON
PALACE^
Fort Worth 81
WACO
1940
LEGEND
USHighways
State Highways
Connecting Streets
Railroads
Bridges
Points of Interest-Number
Points of Interest- Symbol
Interurban
San Antonio
360 TEXAS
and a terraced rose garden add to its beauty. Recreational facilities
include a municipal clubhouse, tennis courts, wading pools, playgrounds,
picnic units, and shaded drives.
Connected with the romance and legend of the region is the high
white crag overlooking the Bosque, Lover s Leap. From this point,
there is a view of the surrounding country.
6. PAUL QUINN COLLEGE, 1020 Elm St., is an institution for
Negroes, established in 1881 by a small group of African Methodist
ministers and maintained by the African Methodist Church. It was an
accredited four-year college until 1937, when it became a standardized
three-year college under the State Department of Education. On the
22-acre campus are five principal buildings and a farm which includes
an eight-acre garden. The girls dormitory is a three-story brick building
with classrooms on the first floor; Johnson Hall, a three-story building
of brick, contains the boys dormitory, the library and chapel, with
dining room and laundry in the basement. The Science Building is an
eight-room stucco structure, and the Music Studio and the G. B. Young
Theological Seminary are frame buildings. In 1940 student enrollment
was about 155, with a teaching staff of 12.
7. TEXAS MASONIC GRAND LODGE BUILDING, NE. cor
ner Franklin Ave. and S. 6th St., is a three-story white brick building,
constructed in 1904. J. E. Flanders was the architect. At the two
main entrances, six granite columns support architraves of limestone
enriched with terra cotta panelings. The TEXAS MASONIC GRAND
LODGE LIBRARY (open 8-12, 1-5 workdays, Masons only), established in
1932, contains 10,000 volumes on Masonry. This collection, main
tained by the Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F. & A.M., includes many
valuable volumes now out of print. The archives contain a number of
manuscript histories of Texas lodges. Of special interest are the minutes
of a meeting of Masons at San Felipe in 1828, at which Stephen F.
Austin presided, before a lodge had been established in Texas. There
is also a complete history of the Grand Lodge of Texas, dating from
the convention in 1837, presided over by Sam Houston.
8. BAYLOR UNIVERSITY, on a rectangular campus of about 30
acres, bounded by Dutton and Speight, S. 5th and 7th Sts., is a Baptist
co-educational institution with an enrollment exceeding 2,000 students
and a teaching staff of nearly 100. The 14 buildings, varying in size
and shape, of both brick and frame construction, conform to no specific
architectural style, but, taking their tone from the old Baylor Towers,
of red brick, ivy-covered, suggest the Victorian era. Rising above
Georgia Burleson Hall and the Main Building, they give the campus
an air of ease and dignity. A few of the more recent buildings face
the campus from surrounding streets.
Baylor, oldest university in the State and one of the largest de
nominational institutions in the South, received its charter from the
Republic of Texas. Dr. Rufus C. Burleson, president of the school,
moved it from Independence to Waco and combined Baylor with Waco
University, founded in 1861. The two institutions became Baylor
WACO 361
University. The medical school of the University of Dallas was made
a part of Baylor in 1903, and in 1909 incorporated with the institution
under the name of Baylor University Medical College. A College of
Dentistry (1918) and School of Nursing (1921) in Dallas, are also
controlled by this university.
The two old university buildings, ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
(1885), and GEORGIA BURLESON HALL (1886), are set well back on
the high campus facing 5th St. Both are three-story brick structures,
of Victorian Gothic style, their otherwise unimposing appearance re
lieved by the tall, ivied "Baylor Towers." A STATUE OF DOCTOR
BURLESON, founder of the university, occupies a central area near 5th
Street.
The newest units surround the campus. WACO HALL is on the
SE. corner of S. yth and Speight Sts., and was the gift of the citizens
of Waco to Baylor. Designed by Lang and Witchell, architects, it was
completed in 1929. Its cream-colored brick walls and modern treat
ment contrast pleasantly with the dull red tone and the design of the
other buildings. The WOMEN S MEMORIAL DORMITORY, NW. corner
S. yth and Speight Sts., presented to the university by Baptist women
of Texas in 1929, is a U-shaped red brick building four stories high
whose stately colonnade and impressive arched doorways are distinctly
Georgian Colonial. Birch D. Easterwood was the architect.
CARROLL LIBRARY (open 8-9 Mon.-Fri., 8:30-3 Sat.), NW. corner
5th and Speight Sts., houses the university library, which has 65,216
books and 7,946 bound volumes of periodicals. It has two important
collections, one of Browning material, and an extensive Texas history
collection.
The BROWNING ROOM (open 8-11:40; 1:40-5 Mon.-FrL, 8:30-3
Sat.), southeast part of the second floor, is dedicated as a Robert Brown
ing shrine. It has stained glass windows illustrating his poems, and
contains the most complete and valuable collection of Browningiana in
the world, including all first editions of the poet s works with the sole
exception of Pauline. Mementos of the Browning family and others
associated with him have been collected from over the world.
There are first editions of hundreds of publications and volumes
associated with Browning; 5,000 titles in English, and more than 1,000
in 34 other languages, with approximately 500 titles in Japanese.
Among the most treasured objects are Browning s private copy of
Homer s Iliad, the volume of Aeschylus from which he translated
Agamemnon, and the bronze "Clasped Hands," taken from a cast of
the clasped hands of Elizabeth and Robert Browning by Harriet Hos-
mer. Several hundred drawings by the Brownings are included, as are
hundreds of letters, among them the Isa Blagden series and Browning s
love letters. There is a portrait of Robert Browning by his son, and a
bust of Robert Barrett Browning by Munro.
The various collections of the Baylor museums include specimens of
minerals, idols from many lands, mounted birds of Texas and the
United States, and artifacts and skeletal remains of American Indians.
362 TEXAS
The latter collection, on display in the basement of the library
building, includes pieces obtained in Alaska in 1928 by John Kern
Strecher. There are also archeological specimens from east, central,
and west Texas, and in an adjoining room is a large collection of am
phibians and reptiles.
9. TEXAS COTTON PALACE PARK, S. i3th and Clay Sts.,
occupies five city blocks. The COTTON PALACE COLISEUM in the park
seats 10,000 persons. It is used for large civic entertainments, and is
the scene of the annual Brazos Valley Fair and Livestock Show. The
buildings, of modified Spanish architecture, are of cream colored stucco
with darker trim.
10. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION FACILITY, on Button
St. 2.5 m. SW. of city limits, covers a landscaped area of 508 acres.
There are 40 three-story red brick buildings in the newly completed
plant, which was constructed at a total cost of $2,500,000. The hospi
tal has a bed capacity of 930, and is used for the care of veterans of all
wars and ex-service men.
11. HOME FOR NEGLECTED AND DEPENDENT CHIL
DREN, in N. Waco on the Bosqueville Rd., is maintained by the State.
The plant consists of six two-story and five one-story brick buildings,
and six one-story frame buildings. On a tract of 94^/2 acres, the home
was established by an act of the legislature in 1919 and opened in 1922.
In addition to the dormitories there are a modern hospital, a school, a
baby cottage, and a kindergarten. The home maintains its own dairy
and pasteurization plant, has an operating personnel of 52, and a total
enrollment of 370.
12. LAKE WACO, 5 m. W. on State 67, is an artificial lake of 2,800
acres created by damming the Bosque. There is a shore drive around
the lake and boating, fishing, and golfing facilities are available.
Wichita Falls
Railroad Stations: Union Station, 501 Eighth St., for Fort Worth & Denver
City Ry., Wichita Valley R.R., Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines; 503 Tenth St.
for Wichita Falls & Southern Ry.
Bus Station: Bus Union Station, 817-19 Ohio Ave., for Bowen Motor Coaches,
Oklahoma Transportation Co., Lynn Way Stages, Rainbow Coaches, Texas,
New Mexico & Oklahoma Coaches, Inc., Dixie Trailways, and Southwest
Coaches, Inc.
Airport: Wichita Falls Airport, 6 m. N. on US 70 and US 277, for Braniff
Airways, Inc.; taxi 50^, time 20 min.
City Busses: Fare io<J.
Taxis: Fare 25^ first 2 m.; 10^ each additional m. or fraction.
Traffic Regulations: 2-hour parking meters in downtown area, 9-6, except
Sun. and legal holidays.
Accommodations: 7 hotels, several tourist lodges and camps.
Information Service: State Highway Dept., 406^ Scott Ave. ; Chamber of
Commerce, 707 Hamilton Bldg., Eighth and Lamar Sts.
Radio Station: KWFT (620 kc.).
Boating: Lake Wichita, 6 m. S. on State 79, sailing, motor boating; Lake
Kemp, 40 m. SW. on US 283, outboard motors and skiffs for rent; Diversion
Reservoir, 30 m. SW., 5 m. off State 25, outboard motors and skiffs for rent.
Hunting and Fishing: Lake Wichita, Lake Kemp and Diversion Reservoir,
ducks and geese in season, fresh water fish.
Golf: Weeks Park Golf Club (municipal), edge of city on State 79, 18 holes,
5O< weekdays, 75$ Sun. and holidays.
Polo: Fain Field, 2 m. S. on State 79, games Sun. and Wed., free.
Riding: Park View Stables, 3110 Hamilton Blvd., 10 miles of bridle paths;
77 Ranch, 4 m. E. on old Petrolia Rd.
Tennis: Bellevue Park, Ninth and Broad Sts.; Scotland Park, N. Third St.
and Grand Ave.; Junior College grounds, Ave. H and Florence Stone Blvd.,
and Weeks Park.
Swimming: Haven pool, Haven Park, Holliday Rd. at Holliday Creek; Cedar
Park pool, Cedar Park, Hampstead Rd. and Taft Blvd.; Sand Beach pool,
5 m. W. on Iowa Park Rd. ; Westmoreland pool, 7 m. SW. near State 30;
fee, for each, 15^ and 25^.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Municipal Auditorium, Seventh St. be
tween Bluff and Broad Sts., occasional musical events and stage performances;
8 motion picture houses.
WICHITA FALLS (946 alt., pop. 1930 U. S. Census, 43,690; est.
pop. 1940, 45,000), in north central Texas, 16 miles from the Texas-
Oklahoma Line, is a young industrial city that began as a trading post,
grew as a cowtown, developed with the arrival of railroads and boomed
when oil was discovered in Wichita County. As headquarters for the
oil industry in its section of the State, it is active both in refining and in
the manufacture of oil drilling and refining machinery. Added impetus
has been given the city s oil activities by the discovery and development
of new adjacent fields as recently as 1937.
363
364 TEXAS
From the Scott Avenue Overpass, an imposing viaduct over the Fort
Worth and Denver City Railway, at its northern edge, Wichita Falls
can be seen to best advantage. Beyond the Big Wichita River, which
traverses the northern area, are the oil refineries, factories, and machine
shops. On the south, beyond the older section, which includes the busi
ness district, the city rises to high bluffs where new dwellings overlook
the river valley.
Office buildings and commercial houses, massive and clean in design
and construction, blocked off by wide, paved streets, have little in com
mon with the pre-oil wooden structures and rough wagon roads, still
within the range of memory. For the casual observer, no evidence
remains of the tumult of oil speculation that shook Wichita Falls for
two years. Only the map shows clearly the swift changes in its physical
characteristics. Its checkerboard design tells of city additions piled
hurriedly on city additions with little regard for what had gone before ;
new residential sections, parks, and curving drives reflect wealth from
oil. The highways and two important bridges that span the Big
Wichita are recent improvements.
There are several legends regarding the name "Wichita," but
according to the Smithsonian Institution the name is "of uncertain
meaning and origin." John Gould, columnist of the Wichita Daily
Times, after a visit to a tribe of Wichitas in Oklahoma, said that he was
convinced the name means "men from the north." The "Falls" was
used in the town s name because of a five-foot waterfall which in early
years existed in the river.
Into the vicinity of present-day W ichita Falls, in 1542, came a
tragic little company of Spaniards, hungry and ragged, lost in a track
less wilderness. Don Hernando de Soto, great explorer of the Missis
sippi, while dying on the banks of the mighty stream, made Luis de
Moscoso his successor ; and, in search of New Spain, the survivors of the
expedition marched across the uncharted northern expanse of a region
now in Texas, skirting the plains below the Red River. They traveled
through an Indian province called Soacatino, believed by the historian,
Carlos E. Castaneda, to have been "slightly to the west and not far
from present Wichita Falls." Hearing of countrymen "towards the
south . . . moving about," as the Gentleman of Elvas chronicler of
the expedition wrote, the forlorn little band marched on, traveling
through a "very thinly peopled country, where great privation and toil
were endured." Disappointment awaited them and they retraced their
march, returning at last to the Mississippi. Thus the Gentleman of
Elvas was the first man known to have described the region of this
Texas city.
A map of the area, bearing the date 1767, shows the vicinity of
Wichita Falls as uninhabited. Spanish explorers wrote of a Rio del
Fierro (River of Iron), now believed to have been the Wichita.
Athanase de Mezieres in 1772 told of the veneration Indians of this
region gave a "mass of metal," possibly part of a meteorite discovered
by Major R. S. Neighbors in the iSso s. Major Neighbors wrote that
WICHITA FALLS 365
the Comanches believed the twisted iron to be "possessed of extraor
dinary curative powers . . . and it was the custom of all who passed
it to deposit upon it beads, arrow-heads, tobacco and other articles."
On the banks of the Wichita lived the Indians of that name, also
other tribes, some of them in villages whose conical buffalo hide wig
wams were built neatly in rows upon well defined streets. Corn and
pumpkins, beans and squash grew in the fields. Early in the eighteenth
century French traders were here, exchanging muskets and beads for
pelts.
Buffalo hunters, soldiers, cattlemen, and adventurers passed up and
down the valley of the Wichita but none tarried until 1861, when
Captain Mabel Gilbert, a native Mississippian, who was a member of
the expedition that had established Bird s Fort in Tarrant County in
1841, appeared with his family in the northwest part of Wichita
County.
Gilbert and his family are believed to have lived along the Texas
side of the Red River for at least a year, or until the beginning of the
Civil War. Early settlers agree that he cultivated the soil and traded
with Indians across the river, but otherwise the accounts vary. Some
claim he died and was buried on the land he tilled the first white man
buried in the later confines of Wichita County.
Pioneer settlers in present-day Wichita Falls were W. T. Buntin
and his family, who established themselves in a dugout at the point
where Tenth Street intersects Kemp Boulevard. A few years later
Buntin built a log cabin about a mile north of the bluffs, in what is now
the Indian Heights addition. He filed the first claim to land in that
section, and the first patent in Wichita County was issued to him.
Buntin raised horses, drove them to Fort Sill in the then Indian
Territory, and traded them for supplies. He was a big man, of simple
manners, usually found attending to his own affairs. The Indians did
not bother him. The numerous Buntin children, as wild as mesquite
brush and buffalo grass and as fearless as their father, contributed much
to the pioneer lore of Wichita Falls. J. B. Marlow, one-time mayor of
the city and one of its first residents, who, as a lad, played with the
Buntin boys, recalled:
They went barefooted summer and winter, and wore crude, homemade gar
ments fashioned by their mother from tarpaulins which their father brought
back from Fort Sill. ... I remember going hunting with one of the boys. . . .
He insisted that we go barehanded. We climbed into a mesquite tree and
down in the brush below us was a big bobcat. The Buntin boy cut a branch
from the tree and poked down into the brush to rout the bobcat. Then he
jumped on top of the cat and subdued him with his bare hands.
The Buntins were prospering when their first neighbors, the Craig
family, came in 1878. The Craigs remained until 1889, when they
sold their property to J. H. Barwise, who had arrived in 1879. Barwise
often is called the Father of Wichita Falls, because of his deep convic
tion that the place was properly situated for future development and
his tireless work toward making a city of the settlement he found there.
366 TEXAS
A crude plat of the town was made in 1876 by the heirs of John A.
Scott, a Mississippi planter. The story of how the Scott heirs came
into possession of the land dates back to the time when Texas, finding
money raised by taxation in the sparsely settled country inadequate for
government support, was obliged to sell land scrip to make up the
deficiency. In 1837, in New Orleans, 19 certificates of 640 acres each
were sold, and finally came into Scott s possession. The tradition that
he won the certificates in a poker game and considered them of little
value seems plausible, for he put them away at the bottom of a trunk
and apparently forgot them. It was not until after his death in 1854
that the scrip, discovered by his heirs, was found to cover land in what
is now a part of Wichita County. When a railroad (Dallas &
Wichita) was proposed in Dallas in 1876, heirs of Scott sent a repre
sentative to Wichita Falls to map a town site that would accommodate
itself to the position of the railroad. The plan fell through, however,
and this railroad was never built.
The attempt of the Scott heirs to appropriate land already occupied
by settlers resulted in lawsuits. In the meantime, since no railroad
made its appearance, what was locally called the T. B. & W. (Two
Bulls and a Wagon) continued to bring into Wichita Falls everything
that could not be tied behind the cantle of a saddle. In 1880 the first
census showed a population of 433.
A railroad, the Forth Worth and Denver City, agreed to build
through Wichita Falls for 55 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of
town lots. Claimants to the land entered into the agreement, and the
railroad arrived on September 27, 1882. Lots marked for sale were
largely on the north side of the river, but before the first trainload of
buyers arrived a big rain put the north side under water. It became
necessary to shift the location, and it is due to this accident that the
greater part of the city is now on the south side of the Wichita.
Cattle raising was the chief industry, with dry-land farming fight
ing for success until 1884, when J. B. Marlow began experiments with
irrigation. In 1886-87 came the "great drought" when for 18 months
not a drop of rain fell. But the community grew steadily, and was
incorporated in 1889.
J. A. Kemp, a pioneer in Wichita Falls, impressed by the success
of Marlow s experiments, urged the organization of an irrigation
project. In 1896 he began a campaign to interest sufficient capital to
build a dam across the Wichita. He was unable to finance the project
from private sources, and the State constitution of 1879 was construed
to prohibit the issuance of bonds to cover the cost of irrigation systems.
Kemp and a few associates immediately submitted an amendment to the
constitution, which was defeated. It was submitted again in 1899, with
the same result.
To demonstrate that irrigation was practicable for the Wichita
Valley, Kemp and his associates organized the Lake Wichita Irrigation
and Water Company, and in 1900 built a dam across Holliday Creek,
forming Lake Wichita, which became the water supply for the city and
WICHITA FALLS 367
for the irrigation of neighboring lands. In 1904 an amendment to
permit the voting of bonds for irrigation projects was adopted, but the
amount of the bond issue was limited to 25 per cent of the taxable
values of a proposed irrigation district. At once two irrigation districts,
called Number I and Number 2, were created in the vicinity of Wichita
Falls, but for several years the plans were carried no further.
By 1907 the town was still basing its prosperity on cattle and, more
recently, on wheat, with a grain elevator and the railroads to speed up
distribution.
Oil first was found in Wichita County in 1900, when it appeared in
shallow wells dug by W. T. Waggoner, who was seeking water for
cattle on his ranch near Electra. However, oil was not produced in
commercial quantities until April, 1911, when the Clayco No. I Putnam
near Electra roared in. Not until 1918 did full development bring the
rush of boom days. Wichita Falls awoke to the amazing fact of oil,
became headquarters for supplies and offices, and suddenly discovered
the town was overcrowded. Hotels were inadequate and rooming
houses forced their guests to sleep in relays. The problem was to get
foot space, let alone office space, in which to hawk shares in leases and
oil companies. Sidewalks became stock exchanges, fronts of buildings
were knocked out and spaces roped off in which hundreds of oil com
panies were promoted.
Despite the boom, the city was building substantially. It clung to
the belief that its future was based on agriculture, but not until the
drought of 1917-18 seriously threatened the water supply from Lake
Wichita did it awake to the need of increased water resources. In the
meantime other parts of Texas had joined the campaign for bond-
supported irrigation systems, and a new amendment had been added to
the constitution, permitting the voters in an irrigation district to decide
the amount of bonds to be issued.
In 1920 the voters in District Number i, of the Wichita Falls area,
authorized a bond issue of $4,500,000, and in 1923 District Number 2
authorized an issue of $1,525,000. These bond issues resulted in the
construction of two important dams, one forming Lake Kemp (see Tour
11}, covering 22,827 acres, the other Diversion Reservoir (see Tour
3c), covering 16,000 acres, with a shore line approximately 28 miles
long. The total storage capacity of Lakes Wichita and Kemp, and
Diversion Reservoir is 212 billion gallons.
At the same time the press of traffic caused by the oil boom necessi
tated improved highways between Wichita Falls and the oil fields. The
Burnett Street Bridge, a concrete structure over the Wichita River, was
completed in 1920. The more important Scott Avenue Bridge, of
three-span concrete construction, built in 1927, became part of a plan
for centralizing all highways entering the city. Scott Avenue was
widened to accommodate the traffic, leading it through the city and out
over the Holliday Creek Bridge at the foot of the avenue. The Scott
Avenue Overpass, over the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, was
completed in 1937 at a cost of $110,000.
368 TEXAS
On the western outskirts of the city, across the river (Indian Heights
Bridge) is the Wichita Gardens Homestead Colony, one of the sub
sistence colonies sponsored by the United States Farm Security Admin
istration. Approximately 215 acres of land, in 62 homestead plots of
two or three acres each, have been improved and cultivated, and irriga
tion provided.
Wichita Falls has three oil refineries, with eight more in its vicinity ;
among its 100 manufacturing plants is one of the largest flour mills in
the Southwest, and the only fruit jar factory in Texas.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. The PICTORIAL HISTORY COLLECTION (open during
banking hours}, in the basement of the Wichita National Bank, NE.
corner Eighth St. and Scott Ave., is recognized as the official exhibit of
historical pictures and relics of the city and its environs. A collection
of maps consists of originals and photostats dating back to 1767. The
pictorial history begins with a photograph of one of the city s first
houses, built in 1878, and covers virtually every interesting and impor
tant event that has occurred since, including the lynching of two bank
robbers in 1896. Many historians and writers have studied the collec
tion to obtain authentic information regarding descriptions and locations
of Indian tribes and early cattle trails.
2. WICHITA FALLS DAY NURSERY (open daily except noon
hour; free), 403 Lamar St., provides daily meals and supervision for
about 100 children of employed mothers. It ranks first among institu
tions of its kind in the South and Southwest and has been cited by
Columbia University (1936) as a model. The idea of the nursery had
its inception in 1918 when student flyers at an aviation camp near the
city made a practice of giving food and delicacies, sent them by friends,
to children living in shacks along the river. In 1919 local women
launched a movement to provide permanent care for under-privileged
children, the result being (1938) a modified Spanish type building of
fireproof brick, concrete and tile construction, surrounded by a large
yard, with numerous items of playground equipment. C. J. Pate, archi
tect, designed the original building, Voelcker & Dixon the addition.
Key to Map on Opposite Page.
WICHITA FALLS. Points of Interest
1. Pictorial History Collection
2. Wichita Falls Day Nursery
3. Wichita Mill and Elevator Plant
4. Ball Brothers Glass Plant
c
To: Municipal Airport
Burkburnett
Oklahoma City
To:
Child ress
Amanllo
Plainview
Muleshoe
WICHITA
GARDENS
SCOT
LAND ii<
PARK m
Texarkana
k Bowie
Kemp PublicX"
< Library
v X *
TO:
Jacksboro
Fort Worth
San Antonio
Brownsville
WICHITA FALLS
1940
LEGEND
U.S., State Highways
Connecting Streets
Railroads
River iJ Parks
Points of Interest -Number
Points of Interest -Symbol
Educational Inshtutions
City Boundary
370 TEXAS
The nursery is operated under the sponsorship of the Federated Mis
sionary Societies and the Kiwanis Club.
3. WICHITA MILL AND ELEVATOR PLANT (open 8:30-4:30
Mon. through Fri. t 8:30-12:30 Sat., on application at office}, i8th and
Burnett Sts., is one of the largest flour mills in the South, having a
capacity of 3,000 barrels of flour and 500 barrels of corn meal daily.
The mill is a reinforced concrete structure, beside which stands a grain
elevator with a capacity of 1,600,000 bushels of wheat. Much of the
flour produced by this mill is exported to Latin-American countries.
4. The BALL BROTHERS GLASS PLANT (open 9-5 workdays
on application at office), 2901 Filmore St., has a capacity of 108,000
jars daily. Besides fruit jars, all kinds of glass containers, including
jelly glasses and specially designed bottles, are made here. To meet
its fuel requirements the plant consumes approximately a million cubic
feet of natural gas a day. The manufacturing is done entirely with
automatic machinery. Only 15 per cent of the total output of the plant
is used in Texas, the rest being shipped to western and southwestern
States.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Wichita Falls State Hospital, 6 m,; Lake Wichita, 6.7 m. (see Tour 3b).
.-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXdkXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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Along the State s Highways
^&&&^^^^^
R
Carlsbad CovernsCy \ I
,r -*& -*
70
23A
o
TEXASJOURS
LEGEND
_ State Boundary
Tour Routes -Main and Independent
__ Side Tours - Unnumbered
Section Numbers - Main Tours
Section Numbers-Independent Side
Section Ends -Main Tours
Tour Section End-Principal Cjties
Tour Section End- Small Cities
Principal Cities
Small Cities and Towns
)Arnett
O K
BROWNSVILL
These tours and side-trips have been logged by
Guide workers and the distances checked by the
Texas State Highway Commission. It must be borne
in mind, however, that the mileage will vary to some
extent, depending upon the manner in which cars
are driven.
Also, with new road construction constantly in
progress, minor changes of route and distance are to
be expected.
Tour 1
(Texarkana, Ark.) Texarkana Atlanta (Shreveport, La.) ; State
ii and 77 (La. 8).
Arkansas Line to Louisiana Line, 38 m.
First 10 miles concrete, remainder asphalt paved.
Texas & Pacific Ry. parallels route.
No accommodations in rural areas.
This route cuts across the northeast corner of the State for only a
short distance, and offers an alternate course between Texarkana, Texas,
and Shreveport, Louisiana. It traverses a rolling, forested region where
shortleaf pine clothes the uplands, with white, red, and burr oak, sweet
gum, and wild magnolia trees along the streams. Sawmills dot timbered
areas. Dogwood blooms profusely in the spring, and the wild rose,
shame vine, Virginia creeper, and swamp pink are among the plants that
ornament the roadside. Ponds have white and yellow lilies. In dense
woods along creeks, small animals are hunted and trapped for their fur ;
mink and muskrat pelts are most valued.
Since the time of settlement in the 1 840*8, cotton has been the lead
ing money crop, and cotton picking and chopping are the only seasonal
activities. Descendants of former slaves till the fields of landowners,
and are both sharecroppers and renters. The white population is largely
of Anglo-American stock, and most of the rural estates have passed,
from the plowing of their first furrows, from father to son. In farm
ing districts customs of the pioneer persist: "graveyard workings"
375
376 TEXAS
(cemetery clean-ups) are held regularly, all-day affairs at which lunch
is spread outdoors. Politicians grasp the opportunities of these events,
and bid for votes by pulling weeds. Singing conventions are held in
rotation at the various rural communities. Undeveloped lignite beds
underlie the southern part of the route.
The route starts at the State Line, at W. 7th St. and State Line
Ave., in TEXARKANA, m. (295 alt., 16,602 Texas pop.; 27,365
Texas-Arkansas pop.), a railroad and industrial center, which lies on
the Texas-Arkansas Line, 30 miles southeast of the Oklahoma border.
A network of rails sharply divides the industrial section on the south,
in a sandy valley, from the business and residential areas, where broad
streets are lined with pin oaks, sycamores, box elders, and a few pines.
Thoroughfares running at 45-degree angles form small grassy triangles
on which are modern public and commercial buildings. The city carries
three identifications : Texarkana, Texas, Texarkana, Arkansas, and Tex-
arkana, Arkansas-Texas, the last being the official designation of the
United States Post Office. A single, urban community, two civic iden
tities make it a Siamese twin among cities. Each twin has a head of
its own (a mayor and a city administration), but the two necessarily
co-operate rather closely.
Texarkana was founded in 1873. Early settlers had built up w T ith
the Indians of present-day Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, a trade
that until the Civil War continued to be the chief activity. A Caddo
village originally occupied the site of the city, and at least 70 Indian
mounds are in the neighborhood.
Out of the turmoil of Reconstruction days emerged a local desperado,
Cullen Baker, ex-Confederate soldier, who refused to submit to the
Carpetbagger regime. When he was put under a guard of Negroes,
on being arrested during one of his drinking sprees, he swore an oath
of vengeance and soon returned and killed all the Negroes at the jail.
Fleeing to the river bottoms, he gathered a band of desperadoes and
preyed upon Union League Negroes and their white sympathizers. Be
cause of his generosity to the poor who helped to shield him, he became
a sort of Robin Hood.
Perhaps Baker s most audacious and cruel exploit occurred when
he, posing as another man, organized a posse of Negroes to hunt Baker,
their hated enemy. He drilled the Negroes with dummy guns and
finally led 16 of them to meet a squad of his own outlaws. Bringing
the two squads face to face for the purpose, he said, of further drill
ing he gave the command, "Load! Aim! Fire!" His outlaws guns
were not dummies, and the Negroes were shot down to a man. Baker
was killed a few years later by his brother-in-law, whom he is reported
to have tried at one time to hang.
In 1873 the Texas and Pacific Railway came into the district, and
the railroad company established a town site at the point where the
tracks crossed the Texas-Arkansas Line. The place was called Texar
kana, a name compounded of the first syllable of Texas, the first two
of Arkansas, and the last syllable of Louisiana.
TOUR 2 377
Texarkana grew rapidly and today its industrial products include
lumber, galvanized iron, baskets, caskets, cedar chests, and boxes, brick,
tile and pottery, textiles, refined sulphur, cottonseed products, oil and
fertilizers. Processing, canning, and shipment of vegetables and fruits
add to the town s industries. At Texarkana is radio station KCMC
(1420 kc.)
The center of State Line Avenue, which runs through the heart of
the Texarkana business district, is the boundary between Texas and
Arkansas. On the Arkansas side liquor is sold, but the Texas half
is "dry." At the northern end of this thoroughfare is the FEDERAL
BUILDING, which houses the post office of Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas,
and the judiciary and administrative offices of the Eastern District of
Texas and the Western District of Arkansas. At the southern end of
State Line Avenue is the Union Depot.
In Texarkana are junctions with US 82 (see Tour 3) and US 67
(see Tour 18).
Southwest of Texarkana State 1 1 passes through a region of flower
and shrub nurseries, truck gardens, and cotton farms, crossing the SUL
PHUR RIVER at 13 m. This area offers good fishing for bass,
crappie, and catfish, and small game hunting. In these densely tim
bered river bottom lands, the small "shotgun" houses of workers sur
round sawmills. Other than these, habitations are few.
ATLANTA, 27 m. (264 alt., 1,685 pop.), has modern buildings
housing wholesale stores, a brick factory, and a canning plant which
processes the tomatoes, beans, and other vegetables grown in the sur
rounding truck-farming area. A nearby oil field, and lumbering activity
based upon forests of pine and hardwoods, add to the prosperity of this
clean, animated community.
The Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas borders come together at 38 m.
as the route crosses the LOUISIANA LINE, 4.6 miles northwest of
Rodessa, Louisiana (see Louisiana Guide).
Tour 2
Maud Jefferson Marshall San Augustine Jasper Junction with
US 69; 248 m., US 59 and US 96.
Alternating stretches of concrete and asphalt paving, except n miles graded
earth between Marshall and Carthage.
Jefferson & Northwestern R.R. parallels route between Linden and Jefferson;
Texas & Pacific Ry. between Jefferson and Marshall; Gulf, Colorado & Santa
Fe Ry. (Santa Fe) between Carthage and Silsbee.
Accommodations in larger towns.
378 TEXAS
This route roughly parallels the eastern boundary of the State, of
which the meanderings of the Sabine River form a little more than
the southern half. Through virgin forests of pine, past stump-dotted
clearings and areas of sparse second growth ; over low, red, sandy hills
and across reeking, stagnant swamplands, US 59 and US 96 lead south
ward, traversing an area that knew the first northward sweep of settle
ment following the Texas Revolution. In the northern part lumbering
is the leading industry, seconded by agriculture, which becomes more
important toward the south ; cotton is the largest crop. Lignite and
iron ore, both undeveloped, underlie much of the route. Oil develop
ments have added materially to the economic welfare of the region.
Small towns are strung close together like beads along the ribbon of the
highway, each one much like the other a huddle of brick or stone
business structures along the single main street or around a tiny square,
a scattered residential section of small frame houses dominated by two
or three more substantial homes of leading citizens, a cotton gin or a
lumber mill, or both only minor details of arrangement marking a
difference. Pioneer customs prevail in the "back country," where, in
houses with wide, open halls called windways or dog-runs, Saturday
night gatherings locally called play parties are given ; they may be candy
pullings, "sings," or game parties. Square dances and all-day quilting
parties are popular. Each farm house has its hounds for hunting rac
coons and opossums; young people have hunts that result in " possum"
dinners for their friends.
Along this way, through the homeland of the Caddoes, came French
and Spanish explorers, and later, some of the first Anglo-American
immigrants. South of Carthage, almost midway between the Sabine
and Neches Rivers, was the Neutral Ground, an area once without law
or government, set up as a buffer between Spanish holdings and the
territory of the United States. Here were hatched many schemes of
conquest, and hither fled many men "wanted" in the United States and
in Texas.
South of MAUD, m. (284 alt., 430 pop.) (see Tour 18a), at
the junction with US 67 (see Tour 18), US 59 passes between tall,
dark walls of towering pines. Ben Milam, a hero of the Texas Revolu
tion (see History), surveyed this region.
The highway crosses the Sulphur River (camp sites, fishing), 5 m.
In DOUGLASSVILLE, 10.3 m. (328 pop.), founded in 1853, the
log cabin erected in 1854 by John Douglass still stands, somewhat mod
ernized. In this village of houses made of pine lumber, large stock
yards serve a wide area; livestock auctions are held twice weekly.
The population between Douglassville and the junction with US 69
is from a quarter to a half Negro. During the era of settlement,
plantation owners had large numbers of slaves; their descendants still
farm the cotton fields, remaining as sharecroppers or renters. A few
Negroes work in sawmills. Old customs and superstitions remain; in
this area a haunted Negro church is shunned by everyone, and mammies
still frighten children with tales of Old Coffinhead, giant rattlesnake of
TOUR 2 379
Texas folklore, pictured as "eight feet long and so ole he done got
whiskers."
The highway twists out of heavy timber and enters a fertile region
of red, sandy soil used largely for farming and dairying.
Established in 1852, LINDEN, 25.1 m. (270 alt., 718 pop.), is a
trade center and a shipping point for livestock and dairy products.
Surrounded by forests of pine and hardwoods, its frame residences
many of them aged circle a small business district around a stucco
courthouse. Here, in the plant of the Cass County Sun, a George
Washington press made in 1853 is in service despite a lively past. Used
first to print a newspaper in Shreveport, Louisiana, it was sunk in the
Red River, with a barrel of type and three imposing stones, to keep it
from falling into the hands of Federal forces under General Banks when
they captured the town in 1864. After the war the press was recov
ered and brought in 1875 to Linden.
Southward the route crosses a region of second-growth timber, then
low swamplands covered with thick jungle-like growth.
Black Cypress Bayou, 40 m., offers excellent perch fishing.
JEFFERSON, 42 m. (191 alt., 2,32